Based in London and Cambridge, England, VividQ specializes in computer-generated holography (CGH) software and consulting to help companies produce high-quality devices that integrate digital content into the visual world. Used together with a spatial light modulator (SLM) and a light source (usually a laser), VividQ technology applies three-dimensional data from sources like gaming engines, 3D cameras, and computer-aided drafting (CAD) software to manipulate the diffraction and interference properties of light, resulting in a dynamic, interactive holographic experience.
With its solutions, VividQ aims to simplify the CGH development process for its customers as much as possible, helping them accelerate their time to market with high-performing holographic systems and devices. In recent years, VividQ has specifically re-engineered the tools and algorithms in their SDK to meet the ongoing challenges of small-scale CGH design.
In 2019, VividQ prototyped the world's first binocular holographic head-mounted AR display. Their result became part of a revolution in the AR industry when they demonstrated the prototype, called the VividQ Headset Prototype V2, for fellow optics and photonics community members at the annual SPIE Photonics West event in 2020.
"Up to that time, we'd been focused as a company on somewhat larger optics formats," said Alfred Newman, head of research at VividQ. "For the AR headset, we were forced to really push the limits of tolerancing and optomechanical feasibility, in order to achieve breakthrough results in wearable holography at a miniaturized scale."
For the 2019 AR headset project, Newman and his team needed to combine the powerful computing capabilities of VividQ with the high-precision task of miniaturizing optical design. Using specification data from the OpticStudio lens catalog, VividQ applied various permutations of stock lenses in OpticStudio, modeling and visualizing each one to check for tolerance fitting and gauge overall performance. When they had the design they needed, the OpticStudio integration with CAD enabled them to simply export the design in a format that was ready for their optomechanical partners to pick up and start building.
