AI and holography enable 3D augmented reality in ordinary glasses
Researchers in the growing area of spatial computing have created a prototype augmented reality headgear that employs holographic imaging to superimpose full-color, 3D moving pictures on the lenses of what seems to be a standard pair of spectacles. Unlike today’s cumbersome augmented reality headsets, the new technique provides a visually appealing 3D viewing experience in a small, comfortable, and beautiful form factor that can be worn all day.
The headset appears to the outside world to be a regular pair of glasses, but what the individual wearing them sees through the lenses is an enhanced universe overlaid with lively, full-colour 3D computed visuals. This is according to information from Gordon Wetzstein, an associate professor in electrical engineering who also happens to be a specialist in the rapidly growing area of spatial computing.
In a study that appeared in the magazine Nature, Wetzstein and a group of engineers describe their technology.
Though merely a prototype at the moment, they believe such a technology has the potential to alter sectors ranging from gaming and leisure to schooling and education—anywhere computerised images may improve or enrich the wearer’s comprehension of their surroundings.
Manu Gopakumar, a PhD student in the Stanford Computational Imaging collective led by Wetzstein, and co-first writer of the article, said that such glasses may be used by a physician to plan a sensitive or intricate operation, or by an aeroplane technician to learn how to operate on the newest jet engine.
The new solution is the first to navigate a difficult labyrinth of technical requirements that has previously resulted in either unwieldy headgear or unsatisfactory 3D visuals that may leave the user visually weary, or even sick at times.
According to Gun-Yeal Lee, postdoctoral researcher at the Stanford Computational Imaging Lab and co-first author of the work, there is currently no other augmented reality system with a similar small form factor or 3D picture quality.
To achieve this, the researchers overcame technical challenges by combining AI-enhanced holographic imaging and novel nanophotonic device techniques. The first challenge was that methods of showing augmented reality pictures frequently necessitated the use of complicated optical equipment.
These technologies do not allow the user to view the real world via the headset’s optics. Instead, cameras positioned on the headset’s exterior record real-time footage and mix it with calculated graphics. The user’s eye then displays the blended picture stereoscopically.
The viewer sees a digitised representation of the actual environment, with calculated graphics superimposed. Lee said that it’s more like enhanced virtual reality than actual augmented reality.
Wetzstein notes that these systems are unavoidably large because they utilise magnifying lenses that connect the wearer’s eye and the projection displays, which necessitates a minimum distance between the retina, the lenses, and the projection panels, resulting in increased size.
Beyond bulkiness, these constraints may result in unacceptable perceptual authenticity and, in many cases, visual discomfort, according to Suyeon Choi, a PhD undergraduate in the Stanford Computational Imaging lab and co-author of the study.
