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Category: virtual reality – Page 51

Engineers produce a fisheye lens that’s completely flat

IS THE METAMATERIAL FISHEYE LENS AN ANSWER FOR RETINAL PROJECTION? There is a race to figure out the best way to project images onto the human retina, for augmented reality devices. Since the human retina is curved, unlike a photographic plate, a wide-angled, curved image designed to fit with the inherent curvature of the retina is in order. Planetariums can use fisheye lenses to project onto a curved dome in a similar way. Can modification of the new method for creating flat, wide angled fisheye metalenses be used for this purpose? There would be three immediate applications of such a capability: 1) Augmented reality projection which is not limited to a narrow portion of the visual field. 2) Full immersion virtual reality devices. 3) Night vision glasses that take large areas of aperture and project wide-angled images through a smaller exit pupil than the human pupil. It is possible that such a lens would be used in combination with another complementing metalens to allow the proper projection.

To capture panoramic views in a single shot, photographers typically use fisheye lenses — ultra-wide-angle lenses made from multiple pieces of curved glass, which distort incoming light to produce wide, bubble-like images. Their spherical, multipiece design makes fisheye lenses inherently bulky and often costly to produce.

Now engineers at MIT and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell have designed a wide-angle lens that is completely flat. It is the first flat fisheye lens to produce crisp, 180-degree panoramic images. The design is a type of “metalens,” a wafer-thin material patterned with microscopic features that work together to manipulate light in a specific way.

In this case, the new fisheye lens consists of a single flat, millimeter-thin piece of glass covered on one side with tiny structures that precisely scatter incoming light to produce panoramic images, just as a conventional curved, multielement fisheye lens assembly would. The lens works in the infrared part of the spectrum, but the researchers say it could be modified to capture images using visible light as well.

DOD Announces $600 Million for 5G Experimentation and Testing at Five Installations

Today, the Department of Defense announced $600 million in awards for 5G experimentation and testing at five U.S. military test sites, representing the largest full-scale 5G tests for dual-use applications in the world. Each installation will partner military Services, industry leaders, and academic experts to advance the Department’s 5G capabilities. Projects will include piloting 5G-enabled augmented/virtual reality for mission planning and training, testing 5G-enabled Smart Warehouses, and evaluating 5G technologies to enhance distributed command and control.

“The Department of Defense is at the forefront of cutting edge 5G testing and experimentation, which will strengthen our Nation’s warfighting capabilities as well as U.S. economic competitiveness in this critical field. Through these test sites, the Department is leveraging its unique authorities to pursue bold innovation at a scale and scope unmatched anywhere else in the world. Importantly, today’s announcement demonstrates the Department’s commitment to exploring the vast potential applications and dual-use opportunities that can be built upon next-generation networks,” said Michael Kratsios, Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.

The test sites include: Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia; Naval Base San Diego, California; and Nellis Air Force Base, Las Vegas, Nevada.

‘Universal law of touch’ could help make VR indistinguishable from reality

The ‘Universal law of touch’ theory was created by researchers at the University of Birmingham, who used mathematical modelling of touch receptors in humans and other animal species. By applying the mathematics of earthquakes to model how vibrations travel through the skin, the team discovered that vibration receptors beneath the skin respond to Rayleigh waves in the same way regardless of age, gender, or even species.

Breakthrough appears to support Elon Musk’s claim we are living in a simulation.

New virtual reality software allows scientists to ‘walk’ inside cells

Virtual reality software which allows researchers to ‘walk’ inside and analyse individual cells could be used to understand fundamental problems in biology and develop new treatments for disease.

The software, called vLUME, was created by scientists at the University of Cambridge and 3D image analysis software company Lume VR Ltd. It allows super-resolution microscopy data to be visualised and analysed in virtual reality, and can be used to study everything from individual proteins to entire cells. Details are published in the journal Nature Methods.

Super-resolution microscopy, which was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2014, makes it possible to obtain images at the nanoscale by using clever tricks of physics to get around the limits imposed by light diffraction. This has allowed researchers to observe molecular processes as they happen. However, a problem has been the lack of ways to visualise and analyse this data in three dimensions.

VR objects you FEEL are a step closer thanks to new ‘law of touch’

The OEC need some VR sets next year.

Star Trek’s holodeck, that lets people physically interact with a virtual world could be a step closer thanks to a ‘universal law of touch’, discovered by British scientists.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham focused on so-called Rayleigh waves — energy that passes over the surface of objects when they are struck.

They found that, when it comes to touch, these waves also travel through layers of skin and bone and are picked up by the body’s touch receptor cells.

‘Universal law of touch’ will enable new advances in virtual reality

Seismic waves, commonly associated with earthquakes, have been used by scientists to develop a universal scaling law for the sense of touch. A team, led by researchers at the University of Birmingham, used Rayleigh waves to create the first scaling law for touch sensitivity. The results are published in Science Advances.

The researchers are part of a European consortium (H-Reality) that are already using the theory to develop new Virtual Reality technologies that incorporate the .

Rayleigh waves are created by impact between objects and are commonly thought to travel only along surfaces. The team discovered that, when it comes to , the waves also travel through layers of skin and bone and are picked up by the body’s touch receptor cells.

These Robotic Virtual Reality Boots Make It Feel Like You’re Walking While You Stay in Place

VR Boots for gaming.

Last year I did a VR experience meant to simulate what it’s like to be at the US-Mexico border wall. The tall, foreboding wall towered above me, and as I turned from side to side there were fields of grass with some wildlife and a deceivingly harmless-looking border patrol station. I wanted to explore more, so I took a few steps toward the wall, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Mexico side through its tall metal slats.

“Oops!” a voice called out. A hand landed lightly on my arm. “Look out, you’re about to run into the wall.” The “wall” was in fact a curtain—the experience took place in a six-foot-by-eight-foot booth alongside dozens of similar VR booths—and I had, in fact, just about walked through it.

Virtual reality is slowly getting better, but there are all kinds of improvements that could make it feel more lifelike. More detailed graphics and higher screen resolution can make the visual aspect (which is, of course, most important) more captivating, and haptic gloves or full haptic suits can lend a sense of touch to the experience.

Remote-control VR robots to start working in Japanese convenience stores this summer

Family Mart’s robots will still be controlled by human employees.

Hardly a day goes by that we don’t find ourselves stopping into one of Japan’s many convenience stores to grab a bite to eat or something to drink. But while we’ve come to expect tasty onigiri rice balls and tempting dessert beverages when we walk through the door, soon we might be seeing robots.