Boomtime for AI glasses, if…

AR glasses and VR headsets require sophisticated optics to bring extended reality (XR) to the user. For AR, these include waveguide‑based combiners using diffractive, holographic, reflective, as well as other coupling and propagation methods such as birdbath combiners and display-only glasses. For VR, optical systems include pancake lenses, Fresnel lenses, and aspheric lenses, as well as potential future technologies such as geometric phase optics.

With the emergence of AI as a killer application, it is currently an exciting time for the XR market, with consumer devices announced from Meta, Google, Samsung, and Snap. IDTechEx’s report “Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2026-2036: Technologies, Forecasts, Markets” examines a broad range of optical technologies used in AR and VR systems. It provides an assessment of the optical technologies that enable virtual, augmented, and mixed reality devices, analysing their development, application areas, and expected market trajectory from 2026 to 2036. The optical technologies used across different XR product categories vary in performance, cost, and manufacturability, which influences device design and adoption.

XR products span a range of form factors, levels of immersion, and physical design constraints. Application requirements vary widely depending on the intended use case. Relevant performance metrics may include efficiency, power consumption, comfort, image quality, field of view (FoV), color fidelity, and battery life. In some applications, metrics such as optical efficiency and weight may be the priority, while in others, wide FoV or high image quality may be more important. This diversity shapes the optical choices available to headset manufacturers, as different optics technologies have different strengths. For example, whilst glass reflective waveguides have strengths in color accuracy and efficiency, diffractive SRG waveguides often provide thinner designs.

For AR glasses intended for everyday wear, the optics and lenses required must facilitate lightweight design, unobtrusive or fashionable styling, and sufficient battery life for extended use. As a result, compact optical systems and efficient waveguide designs are of particular importance. In contrast, more immersive VR applications, such as gaming, may allow for trade-offs in weight or battery life in favor of enhanced image clarity, improved color fidelity, or a larger field of view. In these scenarios, achieving a high level of immersion often becomes the primary objective. Across all consumer use cases, comfort remains a key consideration, influencing both device adoption and usage duration.

Professional and industrial use cases can accommodate different sets of constraints. Many enterprise deployments prioritize robustness, controlled‑environment operation, and application-specific functionality. This can allow for acceptance of external battery packs (enabling lower efficiency optics), larger form factors, or more complex optical assemblies where necessary. These devices may cover a wide range of immersion levels, from monocular near-eye displays to fully enclosed mixed‑reality headsets. Such variance contributes to the continued market demand for a diverse range of optical solutions provided by a variety of players.

Significant activity is occurring in consumer smart glasses, driven in part by the integration of AI systems, which may give smart glasses a ‘killer application’. These applications require simple, lightweight optical components that can display notifications, cues, and contextual information. Meta’s Ray‑Ban Display device, launched in September 2025, represents one recent example of this category. Further devices from major technology companies, including expected products from Google and Snap in 2026, are likely to contribute to this segment. These developments have increased interest in optics suitable for glasses-like form factors, particularly those enabling thin, lightweight designs.

AR devices rely on optical combiners and waveguides to deliver imagery while maintaining transparency. Key challenges include managing color performance, achieving acceptable efficiency, ensuring a suitably wide field of view, and providing a sufficiently large eye box to accommodate natural eye movement. Prescription integration and encapsulation is another area of importance for smart glasses, with billions worldwide requiring vision correction.

VR devices make use of lenses and manufacturers are exploring solutions to the vergence-accommodation conflict. Pancake lenses are now the standard technology used in the vast majority of released devices, offering compactness and providing a solution to god ray issues that hampered Fresnel lenses. However, pancake lenses are not without any trade-offs, including low optical efficiency, ghost images and higher cost.

By 2036, AR headset shipments are projected to reach around 35-million units per year, with VR shipments exceeding 27-million units. These markets create opportunities for suppliers of optical components and related materials. Combined revenues for AR and VR devices are forecast to surpass US$22-billion by 2036. IDTechEx’s report, “Optics for Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality 2026-2036: Technologies, Forecasts, Markets”, describes each optics technology in detail, comparing technology classes via benchmarking criteria and providing analysis on the technologies best positioned to grow across the coming decade. Adoption forecasts for optical technologies are included, with segmentation by AR and VR optics technology type.

This report forms part of IDTechEx’s broader XR research portfolio. It builds on prior editions with new analysis of the XR market, updated benchmarking, and further discussion of the company landscape. Drawing on interviews and ongoing industry engagement, the report provides a neutral assessment of the technologies and market factors shaping the future of optics for virtual, augmented, and mixed reality devices.

For more information on this report, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/ARVROptics, or for the full portfolio of research available from IDTechEx, see www.IDTechEx.com.