Design of wearable binoculars with on-demand zoom
2013
Sandia has developed an optical design for wearable binoculars utilizing freeform surfaces and switchable mirrors. The
goals of the effort included a design lightweight enough to be worn by the user while providing a useful field of view and
magnification as well as non-mechanical switching between normal and zoomed vision. Sandia’s approach is a four
mirror, off-axis system taking advantage of the weight savings and chromatic performance of a reflective system. The
system incorporates an electrochromic mirror on the final surface before the eye allowing the user to switch between
viewing modes. Results from a prototype of a monocular version with 6.6x magnification will be presented. The
individual mirrors, including three off-axis aspheres and one true freeform, were fabricated using a diamond-turning
based process. A slow-slide servo process was used for the freeform element. Surface roughness and form measurement
of the freeform mirror will be presented as well as the expected impact on performance. The alignment and assembly
procedure will be reviewed as well as the measured optical performance of the prototype. In parallel to the optical
design work, development of an electrochromic mirror has provided a working device with faster switching than current
state of the art. Switchable absorbers have been demonstrated with switching times less than 0.5 seconds. The
deposition process and characterization of these devices will be presented. Finally, details of an updated optical design
with additional freeform surfaces will be presented as well as plans for integrating the electrochromic mirror into the
system.
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