One embodiment is directed to a system for enabling two or more users to interact within a virtual world comprising virtual world data, comprising a computer network comprising one or more computing devices, the one or more computing devices comprising memory, processing circuitry, and software stored at least in part in the memory and executable by the processing circuitry to process at least a portion of the virtual world data; wherein at least a first portion of the virtual world data originates from a first user virtual world local to a first user, and wherein the computer network is operable to transmit the first portion to a user device for presentation to a second user, such that the second user may experience the first portion from the location of the second user, such that aspects of the first user virtual world are effectively passed to the second user.

System and method for augmented and virtual reality

Methods of manufacturing a liquid crystal device including depositing a layer of liquid crystal material on a substrate and imprinting a pattern on the layer of liquid crystal material using an imprint template are disclosed. The liquid crystal material can be jet deposited. The imprint template can include surface relief features, Pancharatnam-Berry Phase Effect (PBPE) structures or diffractive structures. The liquid crystal device manufactured by the methods described herein can be used to manipulate light, such as for beam steering, wavefront shaping, separating wavelengths and/or polarizations, and combining different wavelengths and/or polarizations.

Virtual and augmented reality systems and methods

In modern endoscopy, wide field of view and full color are considered necessary for navigating inside the body, inspecting tissue for disease and guiding interventions such as biopsy or surgery. Current flexible endoscope technologies suffer from reduced resolution when device diameter shrinks. Endoscopic procedures today, using coherent fiber-bundle technology on the scale of 1 mm, are performed with such poor image quality that the clinician's vision meets the criteria for legal blindness. Here, we review a new and versatile scanning fiber-imaging technology and describe its implementation for ultrathin and flexible endoscopy. This scanning fiber endoscope (SFE) or catheterscope enables high-quality, laser-based, video imaging for ultrathin clinical applications, while also providing new options for in vivo biological research of subsurface tissue and high resolution fluorescence imaging.

/pdf/scanning-fiber-endoscopy-with-highly-flexible-1-mm-fqny2p8j1w.pdf

Scanning fiber endoscopy with highly flexible, 1 mm catheterscopes for wide-field, full-color imaging

One embodiment is directed to a user display device comprising a housing frame mountable on the head of the user, a lens mountable on the housing frame and a projection sub system coupled to the housing frame to determine a location of appearance of a display object in a field of view of the user based at least in part on at least one of a detection of a head movement of the user and a prediction of a head movement of the user, and to project the display object to the user based on the determined location of appearance of the display object.

Display system and method

The vergence-accommodation conflict (VAC) remains a major problem in head-mounted displays for virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR). In this review, I discuss why this problem is pivotal for nearby tasks in VR and AR, present a comprehensive taxonomy of potential solutions, address advantages and shortfalls of each design, and cover various ways to better evaluate the solutions. The review describes how VAC is addressed in monocular, stereoscopic, and multiscopic HMDs, including retinal scanning and accommodation-free displays. Eye-tracking-based approaches that do not provide natural focal cues—gaze-guided blur and dynamic stereoscopy—are also covered. Promising future research directions in this area are identified.

Resolving the Vergence-Accommodation Conflict in Head-Mounted Displays

Image projection devices, high-speed fiber scanned displays and related methods for projecting an image onto a surface and interfacing with the projected image are provided. A method for projecting one or more images and obtaining feedback with an optical input-output assembly is provided. The input-output assembly comprising a light-scanning optical fiber and a sensor. The method includes generating a sequence of light in response to one or more image representations and a scan pattern of the optical fiber, articulating the optical fiber in the scan pattern, projecting the sequence of light from the articulated optical fiber, and generating a feedback signal with the sensor in response to reflections of the sequence of light.

Scanning laser projection display for small handheld devices

Esophageal cancer is currently the fastest growing cancer in the United States. To help combat the recent rise in morbidity, our laboratory has developed a low-cost tethered capsule endoscope system (TCE) aimed at improving early detection of esophageal cancer. The TCE contains a resonant fiberoptic laser scanner (1.6 mm O.D.) which fits into 6.4-mm easy-to-swallow capsule at the distal tip. The tethered portion contains a single mode optical fiber multiplexed to three laser diodes at the proximal end. This design offers two main advantages over current endoscope technology. First, because of its small size, the TCE can be swallowed with minimal patient discomfort, thereby obviating sedation. Second, by imaging via directed laser light, the TCE is strategically positioned to employ several burgeoning laser-based diagnostic technologies, such as narrow-band, hyperspectral, and fluorescence imaging. It is believed that the combination of such imaging techniques with novel biomarkers of dysplasia will greatly assist in identifying precancerous conditions such as Barrett's esophagus (BE). As the probe is swallowed, the fiber scanner captures high resolution, wide-field color images of the gastroesophageal junction (500 lines at 0.05-mm resolution) currently at 15-Hz frame rate. Video images are recorded as the capsule is slowly retracted by its tether. Accompanying software generates panoramic images from the video output by mosaicing individual frames to aid in pattern recognition. This initial report describes the rationale for the unique TCE system design, results from preliminary testing in vitro and in vivo, and discussion on the merits of this new platform technology as a basis for developing a low-cost screening program for esophageal cancer.

Tethered Capsule Endoscopy, A Low-Cost and High-Performance Alternative Technology for the Screening of Esophageal Cancer and Barrett's Esophagus

Gastrointestinal cancers are heterogeneous and can overexpress several protein targets that can be imaged simultaneously on endoscopy using multiple molecular probes. We aim to demonstrate a multispectral scanning fiber endoscope for wide-field fluorescence detection of colonic dysplasia. Excitation at 440, 532, and 635 nm is delivered into a single spiral scanning fiber, and fluorescence is collected by a ring of light-collecting optical fibers placed around the instrument periphery. Specific-binding peptides are selected with phage display technology using the CPC;Apc mouse model of spontaneous colonic dysplasia. Validation of peptide specificity is performed on flow cytometry and in vivo endoscopy. The peptides KCCFPAQ, AKPGYLS, and LTTHYKL are selected and labeled with 7-diethylaminocoumarin-3-carboxylic acid (DEAC), 5-carboxytetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA), and CF633, respectively. Separate droplets of KCCFPAQ-DEAC, AKPGYLS-TAMRA, and LTTHYKL-CF633 are distinguished at concentrations of 100 and 1 μM. Separate application of the fluorescent-labeled peptides demonstrate specific binding to colonic adenomas. The average target/background ratios are 1.71 ± 0.19 and 1.67 ± 0.12 for KCCFPAQ-DEAC and AKPGYLS-TAMRA, respectively. Administration of these two peptides together results in distinct binding patterns in the blue and green channels. Specific binding of two or more peptides can be distinguished in vivo using a novel multispectral endoscope to localize colonic dysplasia on real-time wide-field imaging.

/pdf/targeted-detection-of-murine-colonic-dysplasia-in-vivo-with-5ajwdt2l00.pdf

Cameron M. Lee

Papers

Scanning fiber endoscopy with highly flexible, 1 mm catheterscopes for wide-field, full-color imaging

Scanning laser projection display for small handheld devices

Tethered Capsule Endoscopy, A Low-Cost and High-Performance Alternative Technology for the Screening of Esophageal Cancer and Barrett's Esophagus

Targeted detection of murine colonic dysplasia in vivo with flexible multispectral scanning fiber endoscopy

Scanning laser projection display devices and methods for projecting one or more images onto a surface with light-scanning optical fiber