NVIDIA to Make AR Glasses Soon

NVIDIA, on Thursday, applied for a patent for new smart glasses with a compact form factor that is going to be visually indistinguishable from a regular pair of glasses. The company has joined the likes of Meta in betting big on this technology. 

Through the patent, NVIDIA revealed its plans to build an augmented reality (AR) display with better power efficiency, a more compact form factor, and improved contrast for more realistic visuals. 

NVIDIA’s glasses will feature a display on specific, darkened areas of the glass. “Instead of uniformly darkening the entire lens like traditional sunglasses, this system can create precise dark regions only where AR content needs to be displayed,” an independent patent researcher with the username SETI Park wrote on X.

“This selective darkening approach not only saves power but also maintains natural vision everywhere else, similar to how modern car windows can have specific tinted regions while keeping the rest clear,” they added. 

NVIDIA also mentioned the possibility of using a neural network to determine the best settings for the spatial light modulator, which is a device that manipulates light in a controlled manner. 

The patent is numbered '20250004275A1' and can be found on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website.

With NVIDIA marking their foray into the world of AR/VR, the competition is set to heat up in 2025. Recently, reports suggested that Meta is planning to add a display and a wristband controller to the upcoming model of the Ray-Ban Meta family of glasses. 

Last year, in October, Meta unveiled the Orion smart glasses, which the company touts as the “most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made”. Meta also said that in the next two years, up to two billion people who wear regular glasses will transition to smart glasses.

On the other hand, Apple has plans in store to build an affordable Vision Pro variant, and the company expects to double its sales. A second generation of Vision Pro, with a faster chip, is set to be released in 2026.