A Practical See-Through Head Mounted Display Using a Holographic Optical Element

This paper describes a practical method for design and fabrication of holographic optical elements (HOEs) as off-axis imaging optics. The authors have designed and fabricated a compact glass-like and see-through display using HOE and a total internal reflection prism. Observers can see through the display because wavelength selectivity of the HOE provides high transparency. Wave front of the HOE is designed by commercial software, though the actual fabrication method is not provided. The authors propose a practical method to fabricate HOEs, which can be applied to a wide range of imaging optics.This paper was originally presented at the 2nd International Conference on Optical Design and Fabrication, ODF2000 which was held on November 15–17, 2000 at the International Conference Center, Tokyo, Waseda University, Japan.