Introduction

I apologize for not posting more frequently this year. I have several trips coming up, and so I likely won’t be publishing until late July or August. I should note that Radu Reit and I have been publishing monthly AR Updates along with longer videos on various topics on our Display Skeptics YouTube channel.

In this short article, I will provide links to some videos I made at AWE 2026 and invite you to join me for my presentation and a panel at MicroLED and AR/VR Connect in Eindhoven in September.

AWE 2026 Recap

I was very busy at AWE 2016 from June 15 to June 18th, 2026. As in past years, I saw many demos on the Expo floor and in a few private rooms and attended presentations.

In past years, I either presented solo or was on a panel, but this year Radu Reit and I held a Display Skeptics Session titled “Debating the Hardware, Software, and Social Implications Driving AR with the Display Skeptics“. We didn’t agree on everything, which should make it interesting. As of this writing, AWE has not posted the 40-minute video yet, but there should be one available soon on the AWE YouTube page.

A special highlight for me this year was AWE inducting me into its XR Hall of Fame for my work on this blog. You can see my short ~2-minute acceptance speech starting here: AWE 2026 XR Hall of Fame Karl Guttag. I tried to keep it fun.

On the last day of the Conference, Radu and I recorded a 40-minute Display Skeptics video summarizing what we saw at AWE with year, and it is available on YouTube here: Display Skeptics Summarize AWE 2026.

As always, I enjoyed meeting with readers of this blog at AWE.

MicroLED and AR/VR Connect in Eindhoven, Sept. 15-17, 2026

This is my second year attending and presenting at MicroLED and AR/VR Connect in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. I very much enjoyed this conference last year, particularly for the ability to meet people at the several networking sessions. Last year at the conference, I met my Display Skeptics YouTube partner Radu Reit.

On Day-minus-1 of the conference (September 15th) at 10 AM, I’m presenting a 1-hour Master Class on “The Latest Trends in Optical See-Through (OST) AR Hardware and Optics Technology.” The first day, September 15, is Master Classes and Tours of some Local Labs. The conference and exhibition proper are on September 24-25th. I’m speaking at 5:20 PM on the 24th.

Radu Reit is presenting as a Master Class on “Tearing down smart-glasses to understand the displays & optics driving cost, performance & user experience,” right before me (but in a different room) at 9:00 AM

This year, Radu and I will be hosting a great panel. We will discuss MicroLEDs, LCOS, Lasers, and Micro-OLED for use in AR Light Engines. The Panelist will include Bernard Kress, from Google and SPIE Fellow and past President (and formerly with Microsoft’s HoloLens), Berthold Hahn, from Meta working on MicroLEDs, and Barry Silverstein, from the Center for Extended Reality at the University of Rochester (and until recently Meta), who was a proponent for laser displays.

If you are going to MicroLED and AR/VR Connect this year, hopefully we can meet. Send an email to meet@kgontech.com.

MicroLED and AR/VR connect Discount code

The Conference is offering my readers a €150 discount if they use the discount code KarlARVR. This discount code is valid for both the “Virtual Pass” and “Hybrid Pass” for virtual and/or physical conferences, which can be attended remotely (this blog receives remuneration for the use of this code).