Crafting a pair of Meta’s Orion AR glasses isn’t just a technical feat; it’s a costly venture, hitting around a jaw-dropping $10,000 per pair. The main culprit behind this steep price is its custom silicon carbide waveguide lenses. Despite the current expense, Meta is optimistic about eventually bringing this cost down.
Silicon carbide isn’t new to the tech scene; it’s been primarily used as a substrate for power-hungry chips because of its impressive power efficiency and lower heat output. However, turning silicon carbide into something as intricate as waveguide lenses is no easy task. The challenges are rooted in the material’s own properties, the crystal growth process, and the complex fabrication requirements.
While electric vehicles are starting to ease the cost burdens of silicon carbide, they haven’t quite matched the affordability of their silicon-based counterparts just yet. Another intriguing potential for silicon carbide lies in quantum computing, though these applications have their own unique hurdles, distinct from Meta’s goals with the next-gen material.
For Meta, it’s not about the improved power efficiency or low heat output of silicon carbide. Instead, the material’s high refractive index is the main attraction. This property allows for creating clear and wide field-of-view waveguides—Orion’s 70-degree FOV is a testament to that. Users who’ve tried standard glass-based waveguides can attest to the stark difference once they experience Orion’s silicon carbide waveguides.
Pasqual Rivera, an Optical Scientist, paints a vibrant picture in his blog post. “Wearing glasses with glass-based waveguides felt a bit like being in a disco,” he says. “Rainbows were everywhere, creating distractions that took focus away from the AR content. But with silicon carbide waveguides, it’s akin to enjoying a serene classical symphony, where attention can truly hone in on the AR experience. It’s a total game changer.”
Electric vehicle manufacturers have embraced silicon carbide in recent years, inadvertently aiding in driving costs down through increased adoption. Giuseppe Calafiore from Reality Lab notes that there’s an overcapacity, thanks to the EV sector, which has lead to substrate prices dropping due to higher supply and lower demand.
However, it’s worth noting that the silicon carbide used in EVs prioritizes electrical performance over optical clarity, making it unsuitable for AR waveguides. Reality Labs’ Barry Silverstein remains hopeful, though. He mentions that suppliers are enthusiastic about the potential of manufacturing optical-grade silicon carbide, as doing so represents a new market opportunity that ties back to their existing capabilities.
Barry adds, “Every waveguide lens represents a substantial amount of material relative to an electronic chip. The requirements for a consistent and scalable factory are being set. The wafer size plays a crucial role; larger wafers mean reduced costs, but the complexity does increase. Nevertheless, suppliers have progressed from four-inch to eight-inch wafers, and some are already experimenting with precursors to 12-inch wafers. That would greatly increase the number of AR glasses produced.”
The industry is waking up to silicon carbide’s potential not just in electronics and photonics, but in fields like quantum computing as well. Silverstein alludes to a future where costs might see a significant decline, although much work remains.
The XR headset market has a history of honing in on developments from larger sectors. In the 2010s, affordable smartphone displays were key to ushering in the era of consumer VR headsets. Open up an Oculus Rift DK2, and you’ll find a Galaxy Note 3 screen nestled inside, Samsung logo intact. Similar adaptations from the smartphone industry extend to a range of components used over the years, like sensors and battery technology.
While there’s optimism about the role EV-driven silicon carbide advancements could play, transferring those successes to AR glasses isn’t straightforward. Console-grade silicon carbide is a niche within a niche, anticipated to take years to reach the necessary scale for consumer AR.
Meta isn’t idle, though; it uses Orion as an internal developer toolkit, gearing up to launch consumer AR glasses by 2030. The goal is a product priced akin to phones or laptops, as Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth shared recently.
The stakes are high, with major players like Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm vying for their piece of the pie. They’re gearing up for the next mobile computing revolution, an arena that just might redefine or even replace the smartphone as we know it.
