Prospects and challenges in AI-assisted AR glasses [Invited]

Achieving lightweight augmented reality (AR) glasses while keeping high optical efficiency and good eyebox uniformity remains a challenge. While architectures like birdbath, freeform, and Maxwellian-view optics offer distinct imaging advantages, they are bottlenecked by tradeoffs among bulkiness, weight, and tight eyebox constraints. Waveguides provide the most viable pathway toward true wearable form factors, yet optimizing their microstructures presents major engineering challenges. In this review paper, we analyze these challenges by benchmarking two major technologies: surface relief gratings and polarization volume gratings, under a unified one-dimensional exit pupil expansion waveguide framework. Through device-level to system-level simulations, we systematically evaluate their optical efficiency, field-of-view, eyebox, and color uniformities with monochromatic and full-color illuminations, providing critical insights into the fundamental tradeoffs of next-generation AI-assisted AR glasses.