Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technologies are expected to play a central role in how people interact with digital content. A challenge in building lightweight, compact and high-performance AR/VR headsets lay in the fabrication of the optical components that guide and shape light toward the user eyes. Diffractive optical waveguides, which rely on nanostructures to bend and distribute light, had emerged as the most promising solution. They offer a thin form factor and high image quality. However, existing manufacturing methods, such as electron-beam lithography and nanoimprint lithography, are costly, time-consuming, and difficult to adapt when new prototypes or design iterations are required. This slows down innovation and keeps prices high.
The HOLOSHAPE project addressed this problem by introducing an approach to fabricating diffractive optical elements using azobenzene materials. The method relies on light-driven surface structuring of azobenzene-containing thin films, where the material reshapes itself at the nanoscale in response to light patterns. A digital holographic microscopy tool developed by the team enables real-time monitoring and feedback control of the structuring process with nanometer precision. This combination makes it possible to write complex patterns directly onto the surface in a single step, as well as to erase and rewrite structures when a design needed to be modified. In this way, prototyping cycles that previously took months could be reduced to days.
The overall objectives of HOLOSHAPE were to validate this fabrication approach, demonstrate its ability to produce high-quality optical components for AR/VR applications, and show that it could be integrated into existing industrial manufacturing workflows. The project also aimed to assess the market potential of the technology, develop an intellectual property strategy, and explore commercialization routes ranging from licensing, parnetship to spin-off activities.
The expected impacts of HOLOSHAPE were significant. Technologically, the project provided AR/VR designers with new degrees of freedom in optical design, including continuous control over the height of surface relief gratings, which had been difficult to achieve with conventional techniques. Economically, it would lower the costs and shorten the time needed for prototyping, accelerating the pace of innovation in AR/VR devices. Environmentally, it reduces the use of toxic chemicals involved in standard etching processes. By addressing both technical and commercial aspects, HOLOSHAPE contributed to a new method of manufacturing affordable and high-performance AR/VR system.
