Meta Outlines Strategy for Major Cost Reduction in Next-Gen AR’s Key Component

Meta’s ambitious Orion AR glasses prototype, although revolutionary, comes with a hefty price tag—around $10,000 per unit. The leading cost factor in these glasses is the custom silicon carbide waveguide lenses. However, Meta is optimistic about slashing this cost in the future.

Silicon carbide is not a stranger to the tech world. It’s been primarily utilized in high-power chips because of its superior power efficiency and minimal heat output. The catch? It’s much trickier to produce than regular silicon, thanks to its intricate material properties and complicated fabrication process.

Interestingly, the electric vehicle industry is working hard to lower these costs, though reaching price equivalency with cheap silicon alternatives is still a dream. Quantum computing presents another potential application, but this comes with its own distinct hurdles, different from what Meta envisions with its next-gen material.

Meta’s interest in silicon carbide isn’t just about its power efficiency and reduced heat output. It’s about the material’s high refractive index, which allows it to support clear, expansive field-of-view (FOV) waveguides, precisely what AR glasses need. For those who’ve experienced it, the difference between traditional multilayer glass waveguides and Orion’s silicon carbide ones is striking.

Imagine a scene described by Optical Scientist Pasqual Rivera: with conventional glass-based waveguides, it felt disruptive, like being lost at a disco, with distracting rainbows. Switch to silicon carbide waveguides, and suddenly it’s a serene symphony, enabling focus on the full AR experience—a real game-changer.

In the last few years, major electric vehicle manufacturers have increasingly adopted silicon carbide chips, which has gradually brought prices down. Giuseppe Calafiore from Reality Labs explains this shift: due to overcapacity driven by EV production, current supply is high but demand is low, nudging substrate costs down.

However, it’s crucial to note that silicon carbide wafers used in EVs aren’t optical-grade, as they’re designed for electrical superiority rather than visual clarity. Reality Labs’ Barry Silverstein sees an opportunity with suppliers keen on crafting optical-grade silicon carbide. Moving from smaller wafers to much larger ones can potentially cut costs further, although larger wafers bring added complexity.

Silverstein adds, “The world is catching on. We’ve demonstrated silicon carbide’s versatility across electronics and photonics. It’s a material with potential future uses in quantum computing. We’re making strides in cost reduction, with immense potential upsides.”

Exploring this isn’t unprecedented. Remember the early consumer VR headsets in the 2010s that relied on small, affordable displays initially developed for smartphones? Devices like the Oculus Rift DK2 incorporated Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 display, reflecting how developments in one sector benefited another.

Beyond displays, numerous components such as IMUs, camera sensors, and batteries were sourced from smartphone technologies. Yet, integrating advancements from the EV sector into AR glasses won’t be as straightforward.

The focus on photonics-grade silicon carbide is emerging but is still developing, preventing Meta from commercializing Orion immediately. For now, Orion serves as an “internal developer kit,” hinting at consumer-ready AR glasses anticipated by 2030, priced akin to phones and laptops, according to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth.

The appeal of AR glasses is significant, and while significant hurdles remain, giants like Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm are all striving to revolutionize mobile computing, potentially ousting smartphones from our lives.