Virtual Environment News

June 25, 2025

Top Headlines

Ultra-Thin Lenses That Make Infrared Light Visible

June 2, 2025 — Physicists have developed a lens with 'magic' properties. Ultra-thin, it can transform infrared light into visible light by halving the wavelength of incident ...

Five Things to Do in Virtual Reality -- And Five to Avoid

May 30, 2025 — A review of experimental research reveals how VR is best used and why it's struggled to become a megahit with ...

The Magic of Light: Dozens of Images Hidden in a Single Screen

May 27, 2025 — New technology that uses light's color and spin to display multiple ...

Researchers Make Breakthrough in Semiconductor Technology Set to Supercharge 6G Delivery

May 22, 2025 — Self-driving cars which eliminate traffic jams, getting a healthcare diagnosis instantly without leaving your home, or feeling the touch of loved ones based across the continent may sound like the ...

A One-Pixel Camera for Recording Holographic Movies

May 21, 2025 — A new camera setup can record three-dimensional movies with a single pixel. Moreover, the technique can obtain images outside the visible spectrum and even through tissues. The development thus opens the door to holographic video ...

How to Swim Without a Brain

May 19, 2025 — A team was able to show that swimming movements are possible even without a central control unit. This not only explains the behavior of microorganisms, it could also enable nanobots to move in a targeted manner, for example to transport drugs to ...

Bridging Worlds: Physicists Develop Novel Test of the Holographic Principle

May 7, 2025 — In the quest toward finding the correct theory of quantum gravity, physicists have been testing the holographic principle which, they say, is a key property of any valid theory of quantum ...

Tying Light from Lasers Into Stable 'Optical Knots'

Apr. 18, 2025 — Scientists have demonstrated a sort of holographic strip that splits a single laser beam into five bespoke beams that create an optical knot. The work shows that optical knots could be used as a reliable method to transmit encoded information or to ...

3D Streaming Gets Leaner by Seeing Only What Matters

Apr. 11, 2025 — A new approach to streaming technology may significantly improve how users experience virtual reality and augmented reality environments, according to a new study. The research describes a method for directly predicting visible content in immersive ...

Amplifier With Tenfold Bandwidth Opens Up for Super Lasers

Apr. 10, 2025 — The rapidly increasing data traffic is placing ever greater demands on the capacity of communication systems. A research team now introduces a new amplifier that enables the transmission of ten times more data per second than those of current ...

Clothes Dryers and the Bottom Line: Switching to Air Drying Can Save Hundreds

Mar. 10, 2025 — By replacing clothes dyers with line drying, households in the U.S. could save upwards of $2,100 and avoid 3 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the lifetime of a dryer. The exact impacts, however, ...

The Quest for Room-Temperature Superconductors

Mar. 5, 2025 — Theoretical physicists reveal that room-temperature superconductivity is possible within the laws of our Universe, linked to fundamental constants like electron mass and Planck constant. Discovery could revolutionize energy, quantum computing, and ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:40pm EDT

Revolutionizing Dynamic Facial Projection Mapping: A Leap Forward in Augmented Reality

Feb. 20, 2025 — Dynamic facial projection mapping (DFPM) has reached new heights in speed and accuracy, with the development of a state-of-the-art system with ...

Holograms Boost 3D Printing Efficiency and Resolution

Feb. 17, 2025 — Scientists have used holographic projections to bring unprecedented resolution to a light-based 3D printing technique. The method allows the fabrication of millimeter-scale objects within seconds ...

Researchers Combine Holograms and AI to Create Uncrackable Optical Encryption System

Jan. 30, 2025 — Researchers developed a new optical system that uses holograms to encode information, creating a level of encryption that traditional methods cannot ...

Virtual Fences Are a Pollinator-Friendly Option for Ranchlands

Dec. 9, 2024 — Fences are an effective stationary method of corralling livestock, but their sharp borders can create sudden changes in native grassland vegetation and the pollinators and birds that live there. ...

NeuroMechFly V2: Simulating How Fruit Flies See, Smell, and Navigate

Nov. 14, 2024 — Scientists have advanced their NeuroMechFly model, simulating fruit fly movement in the real world. With integrated vision and smell, NeuroMechFly v2 helps us understand brain-body coordination, ...

Quantum Simulator Could Help Uncover Materials for High-Performance Electronics

Nov. 3, 2024 — Researchers created a synthetic magnetic field using a superconducting quantum processor, which could enable them to precisely study complex ...

Personal Info and Privacy Control May Be Key to Better Visits With AI Doctors

Oct. 31, 2024 — Artificial intelligence (AI) may one day play a larger role in medicine than the online symptom checkers available today. But these 'AI doctors' may ...

Ultraprecise Method of Aligning 3D Semiconductor Chips Invented

Oct. 28, 2024 — Researchers have invented a new way to align 3D semiconductor chips by shining a laser through concentric metalenses patterned on the chips to produce a hologram. Their work can help to lower the ...

New Optical Technique Could Revolutionize Medical Diagnostics

Oct. 25, 2024 — A researcher has developed a new technique using light which could revolutionize non-invasive medical diagnostics and optical communication. The research showcases how a type of light called the ...

Dangers of the Metaverse and VR for US Youth Revealed in New Research

Oct. 22, 2024 — Research of online victimization in the metaverse is sorely lacking. A new study explored harm in the metaverse and VR devices among a sample of 5,005 U.S. teens aged 13 to 17. Findings show a ...

Optimal Standing Positions and Ventilation in Airport Smoking Lounges

Oct. 29, 2024 — New research shows that not all standing positions in airport smoking lounges are created equal. Scientists found that the thermal environment and positioning of smokers influences how particles ...

Researchers Develop Janus-Like Metasurface Technology That Acts According to the Direction of Light

Oct. 16, 2024 — Researchers have overcome the limitations of existing metasurface technologies and successfully designed a Janus metasurface capable of perfectly controlling asymmetric light ...

Holographic 3D Printing Has the Potential to Revolutionize Multiple Industries

Oct. 8, 2024 — Researchers have developed a novel method of 3D printing that uses acoustic holograms. The process is called holographic direct sound printing (HDSP). It builds on a method introduced in 2022 that ...

Researchers Integrate Fast OCT System Into Neurosurgical Microscope

Oct. 1, 2024 — Clinical study of microscope-integrated system lays groundwork for using OCT to define tumor margins and reveal subsurface brain ...

Physics Team Electrifies the Quantum World

Sep. 16, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method to model a central theory of quantum gravity in the laboratory. Their goal: to decipher previously unexplained phenomena in the quantum ...

Smartphone-Based Microscope Rapidly Reconstructs 3D Holograms

Sep. 11, 2024 — Researchers developed a new smartphone-based digital holographic microscope that enables precision 3D measurements. The highly portable and inexpensive microscope could help bring 3D measurement ...

Toward a Code-Breaking Quantum Computer

Aug. 23, 2024 — Building on a landmark algorithm, researchers propose a way to make a smaller and more noise-tolerant quantum factoring circuit for ...

First Noninvasive Method to Continually Measure True Blood Pressure

Aug. 7, 2024 — The new device uses sound waves to gather blood pressure data from blood vessels, monitoring the response with ultrasound. The new technique, called resonance sonomanometry, holds the promise to ...

New and Improved Camera Inspired by the Human Eye

July 1, 2024 — Computer scientists have invented a camera mechanism that improves how robots see and react to the world around them. Inspired by how the human eye works, their innovative camera system mimics the ...

Virtual Reality as a Reliable Shooting Performance-Tracking Tool

June 11, 2024 — Virtual reality technology can do more than teach weaponry skills in law enforcement and military personnel, a new study suggests: It can accurately record shooting performance and reliably track ...

Researchers Create Realistic Virtual Rodent

June 11, 2024 — To help probe the mystery of how brains control movement, scientists have created a virtual rat with an artificial brain that can move around just like a real rodent. The researchers found that ...

Researchers Demonstrate the First Chip-Based 3D Printer

June 10, 2024 — Researchers have demonstrated the first chip-based 3D printer, a tiny device that emits reconfigurable beams of visible light into a well of resin that rapidly cures into a solid shape. The advance ...

People Feel More Connected to 'Tweezer-Like' Bionic Tools That Don't Resemble Human Hands

June 6, 2024 — Some say the next step in human evolution will be the integration of technology with flesh. Now, researchers have used virtual reality to test whether humans can feel embodiment -- the sense that ...

New Anti-Counterfeit Technique Packs Two Light-Reactive Images Into One Material

May 30, 2024 — Growing concern about data theft and counterfeiting has inspired increasingly sophisticated security technologies, like hologram seals, that can help verify the authenticity of currency, passports ...

Animal Brain Inspired AI Game Changer for Autonomous Robots

May 15, 2024 — A team of researchers has developed a drone that flies autonomously using neuromorphic image processing and control based on the workings of animal brains. Animal brains use less data and energy ...

A Better Way to Control Shape-Shifting Soft Robots

May 9, 2024 — A new machine-learning technique can train and control a reconfigurable soft robot that can dynamically change its shape to complete a task. The researchers also built a simulator that can evaluate ...

Random Robots Are More Reliable

May 2, 2024 — New algorithm encourages robots to move more randomly to collect more diverse data for learning. In tests, robots started with no knowledge and then learned and correctly performed tasks within a ...

Holographic Displays Offer a Glimpse Into an Immersive Future

Apr. 24, 2024 — Researchers have invented a new optical element that brings us one step closer to mixing the real and virtual worlds in an ordinary pair of eyeglasses using high-definition 3D holographic ...

Teaching a Computer to Type Like a Human

Apr. 18, 2024 — A new typing model simulates the typing process instead of just predicting ...

Millions of Gamers Advance Biomedical Research

Apr. 15, 2024 — 4.5 million gamers around the world have advanced medical science by helping to reconstruct microbial evolutionary histories using a minigame included inside the critically and commercially ...