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Caltech’s new optical devices, evolved by algorithms and crafted via precise 3D printing, offer advanced light-manipulation for applications like augmented reality and cameras.

Researchers at Caltech have developed a groundbreaking technology that “evolves” optical devices and fabricates them using a specialized 3D printer. These devices, composed of optical metamaterials, gain their unique properties from nanometer-scale structures. This innovation could enable cameras and sensors to detect and manipulate light in ways previously impossible at such small scales.

The research was conducted in the lab of Andrei Faraon, the William L. Valentine Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering and was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers from Seoul National University College of Engineering announced they have developed an optical design technology that dramatically reduces the volume of cameras with a folded lens system utilizing “metasurfaces,” a next-generation nano-optical device.

By arranging metasurfaces on the glass substrate so that light can be reflected and moved around in the glass substrate in a folded manner, the researchers have realized a lens system with a thickness of 0.7mm, which is much thinner than existing refractive lens systems. The research was published on Oct. 30 in the journal Science Advances.

Traditional cameras are designed to stack multiple glass lenses to refract light when capturing images. While this structure provided excellent high-quality images, the thickness of each lens and the wide spacing between lenses increased the overall bulk of the camera, making it difficult to apply to devices that require ultra-compact cameras, such as virtual and augmented reality (VR-AR) devices, smartphones, endoscopes, drones, and more.

🚀 Q: How might Trump’s administration impact AI development in the US? A: Trump aims to make America “first in AI” by dismantling Biden’s policy framework and reducing government regulation, potentially leading to skyrocketing growth in AI, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, Web3, and augmented reality.

🔓 Q: What’s J.D. Vance’s stance on AI development? A: Trump’s potential VP J.D. Vance supports open source AI and decentralized power, aiming to prevent large tech companies from steering regulation and allowing smaller innovators to compete.

A paper published in Proceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, by researchers in Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, introduces EgoTouch, a tool that uses artificial intelligence to control AR/VR interfaces by touching the skin with a finger.

Modern imaging systems, such as those used in smartphones, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) devices, are constantly evolving to become more compact, efficient, and high-performing. Traditional optical systems rely on bulky glass lenses, which have limitations like chromatic aberrations, low efficiency at multiple wavelengths, and large physical sizes. These drawbacks present challenges when designing smaller, lighter systems that still produce high-quality images.

Disney is adding another layer to its AI and extended reality strategies. As first reported by Reuters, the company recently formed a dedicated emerging technologies unit. Dubbed the Office of Technology Enablement, the group will coordinate the company’s exploration, adoption and use of artificial intelligence, AR and VR tech.

It has tapped Jamie Voris, previously the CTO of its Studios Technology division, to oversee the effort. Before joining Disney in 2010, Voris was the chief technology officer at the National Football League. More recently, he led the development of the company’s Apple Vision Pro app. Voris will report to Alan Bergman, the co-chairman of Disney Entertainment. Reuters reports the company eventually plans to grow the group to about 100 employees.

“The pace and scope of advances in AI and XR are profound and will continue to impact consumer experiences, creative endeavors, and our business for years to come — making it critical that Disney explore the exciting opportunities and navigate the potential risks,” Bergman wrote in an email Disney shared with Engadget. “The creation of this new group underscores our dedication to doing that and to being a positive force in shaping responsible use and best practices.”

A big emphasis of the Journey Lens is to pull you away from your smartphone and allow you to control your day-to-day experience more from the glasses. That’s why this lightweight device has that small see-through display in the upper righthand corner, acting almost like an annotation on what you encounter rather than something in the middle of your field of view that’s trying to control what you see.

Phantom Technology offers a range of different monthly plans based on the experience the user wants with the Journey Lens glasses. These start with a free plan and go up to a premium pro plan at $18 a month, which includes early access to new features and something called Deep Focus.

As shown in the image above, there is a range of how many apps you can connect to the glasses for getting notifications, reading messages and so on—just three with the standard plan, or unlimited apps with the premium and premium pro plans. Three months of the premium plan is included for free with a pre-order of the $195 device, but I believe Phantom Technology would be better served to give everyone three free months of this plan so that new users can understand the value.

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How can afforestation/reforestation (AR) help reduce climate change and help achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement calling for a maximum 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels? This is what a recent study published in Nature Communications hopes to address as a team of researchers from Germany investigated how AR could contribute to meeting this goal. This study holds the potential to help researchers, climate scientists, legislators, and the public better understand the steps that can be taken to mitigate the effects of climate change, for both the short and long term.

In simple terms, afforestation/reforestation (AR) is planting trees in areas that have experienced deforestation (tree removal) or areas where trees never existed. For the study, the researchers used Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) to simulate how AR could contribute to the Paris Agreement goals by conducting more than 1,200 scenarios. In the end, the researchers found that AR contributions to climate change makes its biggest impact in 2052, along with decreasing average global temperatures by 0.2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Finally, AR could also reduce the amount of time before average global temperatures exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius by 13 years.

“These results show that global AR can in fact make an important contribution to mitigating climate change, when applied at the large sale,” said Dr. Yiannis Moustakis, who is a postdoctoral researcher at Ludwig Maximilians Universität München and lead author of the study. “But it is not a panacea and must be viewed in a more comprehensive framework that takes socioeconomic trade-offs equally into account. Planting a forest could create jobs, revenue, and promote ecosystem services, but it could also deprive people’s livelihood, exacerbate poverty, financially or physically displace people, and disturb local food networks.”