Exclusive interview with GOOVIS: Market development, application prospects and challenges of near-eye display devices

Recently, I had the honor to interview Mr. Peng Huajun, the founder and chairman of NED Optics.
Peng Huajun, founder and chairman of Nader Optical

Nader Optical Technology Co., Ltd. is a company focusing on micro-display technology and optical display solutions. Its main product lines include head-mounted displays, AR/VR glasses and other optical display devices. GOOVIS is one of the company's main brands. Its main products include high-end head-mounted theater equipment, known for its clear visual experience and portability.

Mr. Peng Huajun, founder and chairman of Nader Optical, focuses on the field of optical display technology, has a profound background in optical technology, and has extensive experience in the development and application of micro-display optical systems.

The following is the transcript of the interview.

Hello Mr. Peng, the recently launched G3 Max from GOOVIS uses ASPH in its optical architecture. Can you take us further to learn more about this technology and its difference with the optical architecture of current head-mounted display devices (such as Panckae)?
GOOVIS G3 Max

Peng Huajun: Looking back, ASPH is actually a traditional optical architecture that is usually used in mobile phones, cameras and projection lenses. It is essentially a glass-plastic hybrid aspherical multi-lens design. GOOVIS applies it to high-definition head-mounted display devices, mainly to pursue high-definition and smaller distortion display effects. Compared with traditional application fields, when used in head-mounted display devices, this optical design will face more complex processing challenges caused by shrinkage and problems that the current supply chain maturity needs to be improved.

First of all, Pancake itself also combines polarized optics on the basis of traditional optics. By controlling the optical path of polarized light, it can achieve a shorter optical path and become lighter and thinner. But its biggest disadvantage is that when light passes through the semi-transparent film and 1/4-wave plate, it will be refracted multiple times, resulting in light efficiency loss, and it is difficult to avoid light leakage and "ghosting" problems when these components are combined together.

Nowadays, many manufacturers are making continuous investment in various display technology fields. For example, traditional LCD products are also constantly iterating specifications. So what do you think of the current development trend of display technology from the perspective of the supply chain and market demand? Why did GOOVIS choose the OLEDoS route?

Peng Huajun: LCD technology applications have always dominated the market due to their high cost performance. However, as near-eye display devices pursue higher-definition display effects, LCD products with only 1,200PPI display specifications are challenged by other technologies. LCoS industry is relatively mature, but it also has its own design limitations. For example, it needs to have a backlight, and the polarizing beam splitter prism PBS is a major obstacle to the miniaturization of LCoS head-mounted display equipment, and there may also be problems with light leakage. But there are still opportunities to develop in the automotive field such as AR-HUD application scenarios in the future. LEDoS needs to be equipped with optical waveguide technology, and the light efficiency will be greatly reduced. The development of this industry chain and technology will still take time. In fact, Sony did a better job in OLEDoS in the early days, and domestic suppliers gradually followed suit. For example, more than ten manufacturers such as Shiya and BOE have deployed OLEDoS, and the supply chain has gradually matured. In the long term, there is still a lot of room for OLEDoS material and process cost reductions.

In fact, all display technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages. GOOVIS chose the OLEDoS route when positioning the high-definition head-mounted display market because of the maturity of the technology supply chain and in order to maintain our competitive advantage in optical design, that is, to be able to match the ASPH optical solution to achieve our ultimate display goal. That is to say, there are several requirements for high-definition headsets. First, the PPD is greater than 40; secondly, the distortion rate is less than 2%, and then the edge clarity MTF must be above 50%. This is a relatively strict requirement for high-definition headsets, and it is also the specification requirement we set for our products.

The shipment performance of AVP may still be far from the industry’s previous expectations. How do you view the brand’s role in promoting the head-mounted display market at this stage?

Peng Huajun: There are three main reasons why AVP’s product shipments are not as good as expected. One is the weight, which makes users feel a certain burden to use it; the other is that the price is too high; and the third is that the current application ecosystem has not been perfected, and the application scenarios for users are not very clear during actual use. However, the release of this product also has its necessity and significance. The release of AVP defines and raises a standard and specification for head-mounted display equipment, giving users an expectation to look forward to, which also has a positive boosting effect on the industry. However, because the current head-mounted display market is not yet mature and user awareness is not enough, the effectiveness of brands in the head-mounted display market is not as strong as in the mature consumer electronics market.

Is GOOVIS' current product application market dominated by to B or to C? What do you think of GOOVIS's current positioning in the head-mounted display device application market?

Peng Huajun: GOOVIS insists on taking the high-definition movie viewing route, so it is more aimed at the to C market, and on this basis, it will expand to the to B market, such as there are application cases in the field of medical surgery or visual health. The current positioning is still high-definition head-mounted display devices. If we are deeply involved in such a segmented field, we will also develop AI functions into smart high-definition head-mounted display devices in the future. The application scenarios of such products themselves will be less limited. They can be used as entertainment tools or productivity tools. It depends more on the actual use of the end user.

What is the current production model of GOOVIS?

Peng Huajun: GOOVIS itself does not have a factory and focuses on design and brand sales, similar to Apple's strategy. The entire set of design solutions from optics to ID and electronics is developed in-house, and then we find matching suppliers to cooperate with. Because there are high requirements for precision and assembly environment during the assembly process of optical-mechanical modules, GOOVIS is also responsible for the assembly plan and control requirements for the module assembly, and then finds the corresponding OEM.

What do you think of the opportunities and challenges that GOOVIS currently faces?

Peng Huajun: GOOVIS can complete some of the functions currently available on display screens, and even has advantages in display effects and reliability. The future opportunities for GOOVIS also lie in the diversified development of the application market, such as combining stronger computing power as an expansion of existing commonly used screens or further penetrating into the B market. And compared with current projection equipment, GOOVIS products can achieve more convenient and higher-definition display, so they can also replace projection equipment in many application scenarios. As for the challenge, it mainly lies in the end-user’s awareness of the head-mounted display device, because there will be a certain gap between the user’s expectations and the actual effect, so this will still take a certain amount of time to do “market education”.

What will be the development trend of the entire head-mounted display market in the next few years? Where will the main growth momentum come from?

Peng Huajun: The scale expansion of the entire head-mounted display market in the next few years is certain. Judging from the current market structure, the largest volume of VR equipment is LCD screen technology, so part of the market growth momentum will rely on the development of LCD technology with obvious cost advantages to bring about the upgrade of the scale of head-mounted display equipment. The other part is that the upgrading and iteration of high-definition head-mounted display products using OLEDoS screens or the maturity of the supply chain and cost optimization will help further increase market penetration and bring growth momentum to the expansion of the entire market.

Editor: Yan Zhixiang