{"id":19198,"date":"2026-05-26T10:53:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T10:20:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:20:01","slug":"diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/","title":{"rendered":"Waveguides"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(Diffractive and reflective) optical technologies used in AR glasses to project virtual images in front of the eyes while still allowing the real world to be seen. The principle: a micro-projector embedded in the frame sends light into an optical lens (the &ldquo;waveguide&rdquo;), which directs it to the retina. Diffractive <a class=\"glossaryLink\"  aria-describedby=\"tt\"  data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;&amp;lt;!-- wp:paragraph {&amp;quot;translatedWithWPMLTM&amp;quot;:&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;} --&amp;gt;(Diffractive and reflective) optical technologies used in AR glasses to project virtual images in front of the eyes while still allowing the real world to be seen. The principle: a micro-projector embedded in the frame sends light into an optical lens (the &amp;quot;waveguide&rdquo;), which directs it to the retina. Diffractive waveguides use diffraction gratings etched into the glass to redirect light. Reflective waveguides use semi-reflective layers. Each technology involves different trade-offs in terms of field of view, brightness, lens thickness and manufacturing cost.&amp;lt;br\/&amp;gt;&amp;lt;!-- \/wp:paragraph --&amp;gt;&lt;\/div&gt;\"  href=\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]'  tabindex='0' role='link'>waveguides<\/a> use diffraction gratings etched into the glass to redirect light. Reflective waveguides use semi-reflective layers. Each technology involves different trade-offs in terms of field of view, brightness, lens thickness and manufacturing cost.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Diffractive and reflective) optical technologies used in AR glasses to project virtual images in front of the eyes while still allowing the real world to be seen. The principle: a micro-projector embedded in the frame&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-19198","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Waveguides - Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Waveguides - Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Diffractive and reflective) optical technologies used in AR glasses to project virtual images in front of the eyes while still allowing the real world to be seen. The principle: a micro-projector embedded in the frame...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/lavalvirtual\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T08:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/iMac_Blog_mockup-copie.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1805\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1205\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@lavalvirtual\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/\",\"name\":\"Waveguides - Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T08:53:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-29T08:20:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Waveguides\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/\",\"name\":\"Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR\",\"description\":\"News, use cases and events about VR \/ AR\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Laval Virtual\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/laval-virtual_logo_business_intelligence-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/laval-virtual_logo_business_intelligence-2.png\",\"width\":265,\"height\":61,\"caption\":\"Laval Virtual\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/lavalvirtual\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/lavalvirtual\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lavalvirtual\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/laval-virtual\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/lavalvirtual\",\"https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laval_Virtual\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Waveguides - Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Waveguides - Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR","og_description":"(Diffractive and reflective) optical technologies used in AR glasses to project virtual images in front of the eyes while still allowing the real world to be seen. The principle: a micro-projector embedded in the frame...","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/","og_site_name":"Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/lavalvirtual\/","article_modified_time":"2026-05-29T08:20:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1805,"height":1205,"url":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/iMac_Blog_mockup-copie.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@lavalvirtual","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/","name":"Waveguides - Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-26T08:53:01+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-29T08:20:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/glossary\/diffractive-and-reflective-waveguides\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Waveguides"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/","name":"Le Blog de Laval Virtual I Actus VR\/AR","description":"News, use cases and events about VR \/ AR","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#organization","name":"Laval Virtual","url":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/laval-virtual_logo_business_intelligence-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/laval-virtual_logo_business_intelligence-2.png","width":265,"height":61,"caption":"Laval Virtual"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pg\/lavalvirtual\/","https:\/\/x.com\/lavalvirtual","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lavalvirtual\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/laval-virtual\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/lavalvirtual","https:\/\/fr.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laval_Virtual"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/19198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/19198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19263,"href":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/19198\/revisions\/19263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.laval-virtual.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}