Man, let me tell you about this wild holographic thing I stumbled upon. It’s like, Meta Reality Labs and Stanford—those brainy folks—teamed up and cooked up something that could change the game for how we see VR. I’m talking glasses-sized holograms. Yeah, you heard that right.
So there’s this paper, dunno why it’s in Nature Photonics, but whatever, seems legit. Stanford’s professor, Gordon—sounds like a cool enough guy—shared the deets: they’re using this thin, almost invisible stuff called waveguide holography. And then, boom, they throw in some AI magic to make these crazy-real 3D images. Makes you wonder what they can’t do with AI these days, huh?
Now, don’t get it twisted—this isn’t your HoloLens or Magic Leap kinda deal. No see-through stuff here. It’s mixed reality, and really, it’s different. Anyway—wait, where was I going with this? Oh yeah, so this tech is just 3 millimeters thick. Like, that’s thinner than a slice of ham I had for breakfast. They packed in a custom waveguide and, um, something called a Spatial Light Modulator—no idea why that sounds like it belongs in Star Trek. But apparently, it paints full-blown holograms right to your eyeballs. Crazy, right?
Imagine this: instead of typical headsets that pretend to give depth with flat images, this gear crafts actual holograms, so they say it’s like seeing the real-deal in 3D. Wetzstein, the professor guy, was all excited, saying, something like, “Nothing else matches this—plus it’s tinier than what’s out there.” Like, yeah, neat, dude.
And they’re aiming for visuals that grab you all around—like a wide field of view, they called it. Plus, it fits with your eyes moving around. That’s key for making it feel legit, they said.
Weird thing, though—why haven’t we seen this before? Well, turns out it’s some fancy jargon about “space–bandwidth product,” or étendue—yeah, I’ve got no clue either. Basically, it’s where the magic and limits clash, or something.
The project’s part two in this trilogy—sounds like a movie, but it’s tech. Last year, they showed off the waveguide. Now they have this working setup. Next up? A real product—someday—fingers crossed. Wetzstein seems pumped, can’t blame him.
The endgame, as they hype it, is like passing a “Visual Turing Test.” Impressively geeky! The idea is you won’t tell if what you’re seeing through these glasses is real or a hologram. Suyeon Choi—lead author—she’s talking the big talk here.
Oh, and Meta’s Labs are also in on making VR & MR gear sleeker. They’re using different tech though, not this waveguide stuff—ireflective polarizers or something. Who knew optics could be this tangled?
Alright, enough rambling. That’s the scoop. Crazy world of tech, right? Keep your eyes peeled, or you’ll miss how fast it’s moving.
