Chinese holographic and XR technology company WiMi has announced its development of a remote microscope control method using VR.
The Beijing-based company says its VR interface technology allows for real-time holographic 3D visualization and microsystem manipulation.
WiMi says the system tracks the user’s hands and the microscope environment in a fully-virtual real-time interface.
The system recreates the user’s hands in VR in real time, allowing them to manipulate microscope objects via optical traps.
The immersive system also utilizes holographic tweezers, which the company says have proven to be effective tools.
WiMi says the system uses Digital Holographic Microscopy for a high resolution and frame rate in 3D space.
“The 3D structures are encoded in the light field, which is the principle of holographic microdisplays,” states a WiMi press release. “In the case of holographic capture, a collection of laser spots is created in 3D space by modulating the light field in the plane of the spatial light modulator (SLM). In the holographic microscope, the volumetric light distribution is obtained from the 2D interference pattern recorded by the camera.”
WiMi says its system combines both techniques through a holographic VR interface, displaying holograms on a computer and the SLM.
“After propagating through the microscope objective,” says WiMi. “The SLM creates a series of focal points in the 3D volume around the focal plane for interactive holographic virtual reality actions.”
According to the company, its system is a vital innovation in microscope and testing equipment research & development.
The company says the technology has the potential to increase research efficiency and progress in scientific and technical fields.
WiMi says medicine, biology, and chemistry are a few of the fields that could benefit from the technology.