Credit: Boaz Jessie Jackin | See bottom of article for caption
VR and AR has promising applications across a range of markets and usage is growing, but there are still some limitations with the technologies. To tackle motion sickness and other visual disturbances without increasing size, weight and cost of AR/VR devices, a team of researchers have turned to holography and light field technologies.
Holography and light field technology have been used with this goal in mind before, but it's always required additional optics that create bulky, heavy and expensive products, which have struggled to be commercially successful.
Hoping for better chances of success, a group of researchers in Japan and Belgium decided to take a different approach.
Objects we see around us scatter light in different directions at different intensities in a way defined by the object's characteristic features including size, thickness, distance, colour, texture, said researcher Boaz Jessie Jackin of the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology in Japan. The modulated [scattered] light is then received by the human eye and its characteristic features are reconstructed within the human brain.
Devices capable of generating the same modulated light without the physical object present are known as true 3-D displays, which includes holography and light-field displays. Faithfully reproducing all of the object's features, the so-called modulation,' is very expensive, said Jackin. The required modulation is first numerically computed and then converted into light signals by a liquid crystal device (LCD). These light signals are then picked up by other optical components like lenses, mirrors, beam combiners and so on.
The additional optical components, which are usually made of glass, play an important role because they determine the final performance and size of the display device.
This is where holographic optical elements can make a big difference. A holographic optical element is a thin sheet of photosensitive material think photographic film that can replicate the functions of one or more additional optical components, said Jackin. They aren't bulky or heavy, and can be adapted into smaller form factors. Fabricating them emerged as a new challenge for us here, but we've developed a solution.
Recording, or fabricating, a hologram that can replicate the function of a glass-made optical component requires that particular optical component to be physically present during the recording process. This recording is an analogue process that relies on lasers and recording film; no digital signals or information are used.
Recording multiple optical components requires that all of them be present in the recording process, which makes it complex and, in most cases, impossible to do, said Jackin.
The group decided to print/record the hologram digitally, calling the solution a digitally designed holographic optical element (DDHOE). They use a holographic recording process that requires none of the optical components to be physically present during the recording, yet all the optical components' functions can be recorded.
The idea is to digitally compute the hologram of all the optical functions [to be recorded and] reconstruct them together optically using a LCD and laser, said Jackin. This reconstructed optical signal resembles the light that is otherwise modulated by all of those optical components together. The reconstructed light is then used to record the final holographic optical element. Since the reconstructed light had all optical functions, the recorded hologram on the photosensitive film will be able to modulate a light with all of those functions. So all of the additional optics needed can be replaced by a single holographic film.
In terms of applications, the researchers have already put DDHOE to the test on a head-up light field 3D display. The system is see-through, so it's suitable for augmented reality applications.
Our system uses a commercially available 2D projector to display a set of multi-view images onto a micro-lens array sheet which is usually glass or plastic, said Jackin. The sheet receives the light from the projector and modulates it to reconstruct the 3D images in space, so a viewer looking through the micro-lens array perceives the image in 3D.
One big difficulty their approach overcomes is that light from a 2D projector diverges and must be made collimated into a parallel beam before it hits the micro-lens array in order to accurately reconstruct the 3D images in space.
As displays get larger, the collimating lens should also increase in size. This leads to a bulky and heavy lens, the system consuming long optical path length and also the fabrication of the collimating lens gets costly, said Jackin. It's the main bottleneck preventing such a system from achieving any commercial success.
Jackin and colleagues' approach completely avoids the requirement of collimation optics by incorporating its function on the lens array itself. The micro-lens array is a fabricated DDHOE, which includes the collimating functions.
The researchers went on to create a head-up, see-through 3-D display, which could soon offer an alternative to the current models that use the bulky collimation optics.
Researchers will present the work during The Optical Society's (OSA) Frontiers in Optics meeting, September, 16 to 20 in Washington, D.C.
Source: The Optical Society
Full research paper
Figure: a) A fabricated DDHOE lens array; b) The 3D display system consisting of a 2D projector and DDHOE; c) A computer-modelled 3D scene of depth 6cm; d) A 3D reconstruction of a modelled scene captured by camera looking into the DDHOE
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Multiview available via SaaS for streaming platforms and operators through broadpeak.io, with live demonstrations at IBC2026
Broadpeak , a leader in streaming ...
20/08/2026
Techex, a leading provider of live broadcast infrastructure solutions, has appointed Stuart Almond as Chief Revenue Officer, further strengthening its executive...
20/08/2026
Avid today announced that MediaCity Studios has upgraded its production infrastructure with an enhanced end-to-end Avid production ecosystem, including the dep...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
20/08/2026
It's a new way into the cloud.
GeForce NOW welcomes Firefox support to the cloud, opening up another way to jump into high-performance PC gaming straight ...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
Credit: Boaz Jessie Jackin | See bottom of article for caption
