Meta Outlines Strategy to Slash Costs for Next-Gen Augmented Reality’s Key Component

Creating Meta’s Orion AR glasses is no cheap endeavor. Each pair comes with a staggering price tag of around $10,000. Why? Well, it’s mostly due to the custom silicon carbide waveguide lenses. Fortunately, Meta believes there’s potential to cut these costs significantly down the road.

Silicon carbide isn’t new, often used as a substrate in high-power chips because of its superior power efficiency and ability to keep cool. However, crafting silicon carbide is no walk in the park. Its material properties, the intricate crystal growth process, and the overall fabrication complexity make it a tough nut to crack compared to its silicon counterpart.

Interestingly, the push to make things cheaper is being led by electric vehicles. But we’re still quite a way from reaching the affordability of silicon, which is both cheap and abundant. Quantum computing might be another arena for silicon carbide, yet it presents a whole set of challenges distinct from what Meta is planning with the next-gen material.

Meta isn’t just after the better efficiency and cooling offered by silicon carbide. It’s the material’s high refractive index that’s the star of the show. This makes it perfect for clear, wide field-of-view waveguides. With Orion, we’re talking about a stellar 70-degree field-of-view. Those who’ve tried Orion’s break from the traditional multi-layered glass waveguides say the experience is revolutionary.

“You put on the glasses with conventional glass waveguides, and it feels like you’re at a disco,” quoted Optical Scientist Pasqual Rivera in a blog post. “There are distracting rainbows everywhere, pulling your attention away from the AR content. But with the silicon carbide waveguides, it’s like attending a quiet classical concert. It’s transformative. You get to immerse in what we’ve built.”

A wave of electric vehicle manufacturers adopting silicon carbide chips has played a role in driving costs down recently. According to Giuseppe Calafiore, the AR Waveguides Tech Lead at Reality Lab, “There’s now an overcapacity thanks to EVs that didn’t exist during Orion’s development. With high supply and low demand, the material costs are starting to drop.”

It’s worth noting that EVs use silicon carbide wafers designed more for electrical performance than optical clarity. So using their surplus isn’t an option. Yet Barry Silverstein, Reality Labs’ Director of Research Science, sees potential growth here:

“Suppliers are jazzed about the chance to produce optical-grade silicon carbide. Each waveguide lens involves a lot of material compared to an electronic chip, and their current abilities fit well in this area. Scaling up factories is the dream, and the size of the wafer is key—bigger wafers mean lower costs, although the complexity rises. Moving from a four-inch to an eight-inch wafer was significant, and some are even working on precursors for 12-inch wafers, which could exponentially increase AR glasses production.”

Silverstein adds, “The industry is beginning to see the value in silicon carbide, not just for electronics but also photonics, with possible future applications in quantum computing. There’s a path to cutting costs, although much work still lies ahead. The upside is enormous.”

History has shown how XR headsets have benefitted from advances in consumer tech. In the early 2010s, affordable displays developed for smartphones helped launch consumer VR headsets. Take the Oculus Rift DK2 in 2014, for instance. Open it up, and you’ll find a Galaxy Note 3 display panel—Samsung branding and all.

Besides displays, other parts like inertial measurement units, camera sensors, and battery tech have been borrowed from the smartphone industry. While the trend seems to favor silicon carbide improvements thanks to EV advancements, it’s not a straightforward transition for AR glasses.

Photonic-grade silicon carbide is still a small niche within an industry and will need years to ramp up production. This very challenge is one reason Meta’s Orion isn’t yet consumer-ready. Nevertheless, Meta is leveraging Orion as an “internal developer kit” in its journey to launch consumer AR glasses possibly by 2030, aiming for a price comparable to phones and laptops, as revealed by CTO Andrew Bosworth earlier.

The appeal of AR glasses is undeniable, and somehow, these puzzle pieces will find their place. Tech giants like Meta, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm are all vying for a piece of the next big mobile computing platform, dreaming of a future where AR glasses might replace the smartphone altogether.