Accommodative holography: improving accommodation response for perceptually realistic holographic displays

Author(s):

Kim, Dongyeon; Nam, Seung-Woo; Lee, Byounghyo; Seo, Jong-Mo & Lee, Byoungho

Abstract:

“Holographic displays have gained unprecedented attention as next-generation virtual and augmented reality applications with recent achievements in the realization of a high-contrast image through computer-generated holograms (CGHs). However, these holograms show a high energy concentration in a limited angular spectrum, whereas the holograms with uniformly distributed angular spectrum suffer from a severe speckle noise in the reconstructed images. In this study, we claim that these two physical phenomena attributed to the existing CGHs significantly limit the support of accommodation cues, which is known as one of the biggest advantages of holographic displays. To support the statement, we analyze and evaluate various CGH algorithms with contrast gradients – a change of contrast over the change of the focal diopter of the eye – simulated based on the optical configuration of the display system and human visual perception models. We first introduce two approaches to improve monocular accommodation response in holographic viewing experience; optical and computational approaches to provide holographic images with sufficient contrast gradients. We design and conduct user experiments with our prototype of holographic near-eye displays, validating the deficient support of accommodation cues in the existing CGH algorithms and demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed solutions with significant improvements on accommodative gains.”

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Publication: ACM Transactions on Graphics
Issue/Year: ACM Transactions on Graphics, Volume 41; Number 4; Pages 1–15; 2022
DOI: 10.1145/3528223.3530147

Hogel-free Holography

Author(s):

Chakravarthula, Praneeth; Tseng, Ethan; Fuchs, Henry & Heide, Felix

Abstract:

“Holography is a promising avenue for high-quality displays without requiring bulky, complex optical systems. While recent work has demonstrated accurate hologram generation of 2D scenes, high-quality holographic projections of 3D scenes has been out of reach until now. Existing multiplane 3D holography approaches fail to model wavefronts in the presence of partial occlusion while holographic stereogram methods have to make a fundamental trade of between spatial and angular resolution. In addition, existing 3D holographic display methods rely on heuristic encoding of complex amplitude into phase-only pixels which results in holograms with severe artifacts. Fundamental limitations of the input representation, wavefront modeling, and optimization methods prohibit artifact-free 3D holographic projections in today’s displays. To lift these limitations, we introduce hogel-free holography which optimizes for true 3D holograms, supporting both depth- and view- dependent efects for the irst time. Our approach overcomes the fundamental spatio-angular resolution trade-of typical to stereogram approaches. Moreover, it avoids heuristic encoding schemes to achieve high image idelity over a 3D volume. We validate that the proposed method achieves 10 dB PSNR improvement on simulated holographic reconstructions. We also validate our approach on an experimental prototype with accurate parallax and depth focus efects”

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Publication: ACM Transactions on Graphics
Issue/Year: ACM Transactions on Graphics, 2022
DOI: 10.1145/3516428

Varifocal diffractive lenses for multi-depth microscope imaging

Author(s):

Reda, Francesco; Salvatore, Marcella; Borbone, Fabio; Maddalena, Pasqualino; Ambrosio, Antonio & Oscurato, Stefano Luigi

Abstract:

“Flat optical elements enable the realization of ultra-thin devices able to either reproduce or overcome the functionalities of standard bulky components. The fabrication of these elements involves the structuration of material surfaces on the light wavelength scale, whose geometry has to be carefully designed to achieve the desired optical functionality. In addition to the limits imposed by lithographic design-performance compromises, their optical behavior cannot be accurately tuned afterward, making them difficult to integrate in dynamic optical systems. Here we show the realization of fully reconfigurable flat varifocal diffractive lens, which can be in-place realized, erased and reshaped directly on the surface of an azopolymer film by an all-optical holographic process. Integrating the lens in the same optical system used as standard refractive microscope, results in a hybrid microscope capable of multi-depth object imaging. Our approach demonstrates that reshapable flat optics can be a valid choice to integrate, or even substitute, modern optical systems for advanced functionalities.”

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Publication: Optics Express
Issue/Year: Optics Express, Volume 30; Number 8; Pages 12695; 2022
DOI: 10.1364/oe.455520

Speckle reduction in holographic display with partially spatial coherent illumination

Author(s):

Zhao, Zijie; Duan, Junyi & Liu, Juan

Abstract:

“A method of holographic reconstruction under partially spatial coherent illumination with different degree of coherence is proposed to suppress speckle noise based on theoretical analysis. The core factor of speckle reduction based on partially spatial coherent light is convolution operation in CGH reconstruction process. Numerical simulations and optical experiments are both performed to verify the proposed theory. The results reconstructed by proposed and traditional method are compared, and the speckle contrasts can be reduced to 0.05 and 0.08 at most in Fresnel and Fraunhofer zone respectively. The image quality is obviously improved. This method can provide further applications for three-dimensional holographic display, beam shaping and coherence degree modulation techniques.”

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Publication: Optics Communications
Issue/Year: Optics Communications, Volume 507; Pages 127604; 2022
DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2021.127604

Dual-task convolutional neural network based on the combination of the U-Net and a diffraction propagation model for phase hologram design with suppressed speckle noise

Author(s):

Sun, Xiuhui; Mu, Xingyu; Xu, Cheng; Pang, Hui; Deng, Qiling; Zhang, Ke; Jiang, Haibo; Du, Jinglei; Yin, Shaoyun & Du, Chunlei

Abstract:

“In this paper, a dual-task convolutional neural network based on the combination of the U-Net and a diffraction propagation model is proposed for the design of phase holograms to suppress speckle noise of the reconstructed images. By introducing a Fresnel transmission layer, based on angular spectrum diffraction theory, as the diffraction propagation model and incorporating it into U-Net as the output layer, the proposed neural network model can describe the actual physical process of holographic imaging, and the distributions of both the light amplitude and phase can be generated. Afterwards, by respectively using the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) as the loss function to modulate the distribution of the amplitude, and a proposed target-weighted standard deviation (TWSD) as the loss function to limit the randomness and arbitrariness of the reconstructed phase distribution, the dual tasks of the amplitude reconstruction and phase smoothing are jointly solved, and thus the phase hologram that can produce high quality image without speckle is obtained. Both simulations and optical experiments are carried out to confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. Furthermore, the depth of field (DOF) of the image using the proposed method is much larger than that of using the traditional Gerchberg-Saxton (GS) algorithm due to the smoothness of the reconstructed phase distribution, which is also verified in the experiments. This study provides a new phase hologram design approach and shows the potential of neural networks in the field of the holographic imaging and more.”

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Publication: Optics Express
Issue/Year: Optics Express, Volume 30; Number 2; Pages 2646; 2022
DOI: 10.1364/oe.440956

Polygon-based computer-generated holography: a review of fundamentals and recent progress [Invited]

Author(s):

Zhang, Yaping; Fan, Houxin; Wang, Fan; Gu, Xianfeng; Qian, Xiaofan & Poon, Ting-Chung

Abstract:

“In this review paper, we first provide comprehensive tutorials on two classical methods of polygon-based computer-generated holography: the traditional method (also called the fast-Fourier-transform-based method) and the analytical method. Indeed, other modern polygon-based methods build on the idea of the two methods. We will then present some selective methods with recent developments and progress and compare their computational reconstructions in terms of calculation speed and image quality, among other things. Finally, we discuss and propose a fast analytical method called the fast 3D affine transformation method, and based on the method, we present a numerical reconstruction of a computer-generated hologram (CGH) of a 3D surface consisting of 49,272 processed polygons of the face of a real person without the use of graphic processing units; to the best of our knowledge, this represents a state-of-the-art numerical result in polygon-based computed-generated holography. Finally, we also show optical reconstructions of such a CGH and another CGH of the Stanford bunny of 59,996 polygons with 31,724 processed polygons after back-face culling. We hope that this paper will bring out some of the essence of polygon-based computer-generated holography and provide some insights for future research.”

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Publication: Applied Optics
Issue/Year: Applied Optics, Volume 61; Number 5; Pages B363; 2022
DOI: 10.1364/ao.444973

Neural 3D holography

Author(s):

Choi, Suyeon; Gopakumar, Manu; Peng, Yifan; Kim, Jonghyun & Wetzstein, Gordon

Abstract:

“Holographic near-eye displays promise unprecedented capabilities for virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) systems. The image quality achieved by current holographic displays, however, is limited by the wave propagation models used to simulate the physical optics. We propose a neural network-parameterized plane-to-multiplane wave propagation model that closes the gap between physics and simulation. Our model is automatically trained using camera feedback and it outperforms related techniques in 2D plane-to-plane settings by a large margin. Moreover, it is the first network-parameterized model to naturally extend to 3D settings, enabling high-quality 3D computer-generated holography using a novel phase regularization strategy of the complex-valued wave field. The efficacy of our approach is demonstrated through extensive experimental evaluation with both VR and optical see-through AR display prototypes.”

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Publication: ACM Transactions on Graphics
Issue/Year: ACM Transactions on Graphics, Volume 40; Number 6; Pages 1–12; 2021
DOI: 10.1145/3478513.3480542

Fast 3D Content Update for Wide-Angle Holographic Near-Eye Display

Author(s):

Rafał Kukołowicz; Chlipala, Maksymilian; Martinez-Carranza, Juan; Idicula, Moncy Sajeev & Kozacki, Tomasz

Abstract:

“Near-eye holographic displays are the holy grail of wear-on 3D display devices because they are intended to project realistic wide-angle virtual scenes with parameters matching human vision. One of the key features of a realistic perspective is the ability to move freely around the virtual scene. This can be achieved by addressing the display with wide-angle computer-generated holograms (CGHs) that enable continuous viewpoint change. However, to the best of our knowledge there is no technique able to generate these types of content. Thus, in this work we propose an accurate and non-paraxial hologram update method for wide-angle CGHs that supports continuous viewpoint change around the scene. This method is based on the assumption that with a small change in perspective, two consecutive holograms share overlapping data. This enables reusing the corresponding part of the information from the previous view, eliminating the need to generate an entirely new hologram. Holographic information for the next viewpoint is calculated in two steps: first, a tool approximating the Angular Spectrum Propagation is proposed to generate the hologram data from previous viewpoint; and second, the efficient Phase Added Stereogram algorithm is utilized for generating the missing hologram content. This methodology offers fast and accurate calculations at the same time. Numerical and optical experiments are carried out to support the results of the proposed method.”

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Publication: Applied Sciences
Issue/Year: Applied Sciences, Volume 12; Number 1; Pages 293; 2021
DOI: 10.3390/app12010293

Distortion correction for wide angle holographic projector

Author(s):

Jędrzej Szpygiel, Maksymilian Chlipała, Rafał Kukołowicz, Moncy Idicula, Tomasz Kozacki

Abstract:

“This letter presents a distortion correction method enabling a distortion minimized, large size image in a wide angle holographic projector. The technique applies numerical predistortion of an input image used for hologram generation. It is based on estimation of distortion coefficients by comparing optically a reconstructed point test chart with the original one. Obtained experimental results prove that the technique allows reconstruction of high-quality image.”

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Publication: Photonics Letters of Poland
Issue/Year: Photonics Letters of Poland, Volume 13; Number 4; Pages 79; 2021
DOI: 10.4302/plp.v13i4.1125

Unfiltered holography: optimizing high diffraction orders without optical filtering for compact holographic displays

Author(s):

Gopakumar, Manu; Kim, Jonghyun; Choi, Suyeon; Peng, Yifan & Wetzstein, Gordon

Abstract:

“Computer-generated holography suffers from high diffraction orders (HDOs) created from pixelated spatial light modulators, which must be optically filtered using bulky optics. Here, we develop an algorithmic framework for optimizing HDOs without optical filtering to enable compact holographic displays. We devise a wave propagation model of HDOs and use it to optimize phase patterns, which allows HDOs to contribute to forming the image instead of creating artifacts. The proposed method significantly outperforms previous algorithms in an unfiltered holographic display prototype.”

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Publication: Optics Letters
Issue/Year: Optics Letters, Volume 46; Number 23; Pages 5822; 2021
DOI: 10.1364/ol.442851
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