Simulate field-of-view limits, diffractive waveguide transmittance, eyebox clipping, and perceived sunlight contrast across real-world ambient environments.
Field of view in planar waveguides is bounded by Snell's Law and Total Internal Reflection: FOV ≈ 2 × arcsin(n - 1). Standard glass (n=1.52) bottlenecks at ~30°. Meta Orion utilizes Silicon Carbide (SiC, n ≈ 2.7) to bounce steep light angles across 70° without color rainbows.
The optical invariant (Etendue) mandates that Eyebox × FOV = Constant for a fixed micro-display size. Increasing the FOV cuts eyebox margins; if your glasses slide down 3mm, half the display disappears unless pupil replication gratings are applied.
Under 10,000 lux outdoor sunlight, ambient bounce off retinas approaches 1,200 nits. Because transparent see-through waveguides have 70-85% optical transparency, micro-LED engines must pump 4,000–8,000 nits into the in-coupler to achieve readable 3:1 Michelson contrast.
Early smart glasses like Google Glass used simple beam-splitter prisms (~15° FOV) providing a postage-stamp display high in peripheral gaze. Expanding FOV to immersive AR (>50°) requires diffractive nanostructured waveguides. However, diffraction gratings lose up to 90% of photon energy inside the waveguide. Until high-efficiency micro-LEDs (delivering millions of nits per square millimeter) and ultra-high refractive index materials like synthetic diamond or silicon carbide became manufacturable, large FOV glasses drained batteries within minutes.
Ergonomic research (ISO 9241-410 and NASA-STD-3001) shows human gaze stays naturally within ±15° of central rest. Placing persistent UI text beyond 20° forces ocular muscle saccade strain and micro-head turns. This simulator calculates a live glance score penalizing elements pushed into extreme edge corners under restricted eyebox envelopes.