Hacker News with Generative AI: Optics

TSMC bets on unorthodox optical tech (ieee.org)
In the race to an all-optical AI data center, a major player has now placed a bet on a different horse.

Artificial Intelligence, Semiconductor Industry, Technology, Optics

241 points by Rohitcss 32 days ago | 100 comments

Laser Breakthrough can read text from a mile away (sciencealert.com)
Your eyesight might be good enough to confidently read the tiny text at the optometrist from a few meters away. But you're left in the dust by a new device recently demoed by researchers, which was able to scan tiny individual characters of text from a distance of 1.36 kilometers (about 0.85 miles).

Technology, Science, Optics, Lasers

7 points by wmstack 33 days ago | 0 comments

Types of optical systems in a lens designer's toolbox (2020) (pencilofrays.com)
As an optical lens designer, there were times I used to think that “I can get the performance that I need for this system with the software, but I want to understand what I am doing”.

Optics, Lens Design, Software, Engineering

83 points by picture 35 days ago | 14 comments

Near-infrared vision in humans enabled by upconversion contact lenses (sciencedirect.com)
Humans cannot perceive infrared light due to the physical thermodynamic properties of photon-detecting opsins. However, the capability to detect invisible multispectral infrared light with the naked eye is highly desirable.

Science, Biology, Optics, Vision, Technology

9 points by Metacelsus 35 days ago | 1 comments

'Super-vision' contact lenses let wearers see in the dark, even with eyes closed (livescience.com)

Technology, Bioengineering, Optics, Health, Vision

4 points by Brajeshwar 35 days ago | 0 comments

Infrared contact lenses allow people to see in the dark, eyes closed (phys.org)
Neuroscientists and materials scientists have created contact lenses that enable infrared vision in both humans and mice by converting infrared light into visible light.

Neuroscience, Bioengineering, Optics, Vision

28 points by joak 36 days ago | 10 comments

Interferometer Device Sees Text from a Mile Away (physics.aps.org)
Researchers have now applied this technique to the imaging of remote objects on Earth [1].

Physics, Optics, Remote Sensing, Technology

263 points by bookofjoe 48 days ago | 62 comments

Sub-millimeter waveguide shrinks augmented-reality glasses (phys.org)
Augmented-reality (AR) technology is rapidly finding its way into everyday life, from education and health care to gaming and entertainment. However, the core AR device remains bulky and heavy, making prolonged wear uncomfortable. A breakthrough from POSTECH now promises to change that.

Augmented Reality, Technology, Hardware, Optics

14 points by alejohausner 50 days ago | 0 comments

Universal all-optical logic gate reaches 240 GHz at room temperature (phys.org)
A research team from Skoltech and the University of Wuppertal in Germany determined that an all-optical universal logic gate that was previously developed at Skoltech can operate at a speed of 240 GHz at room temperature.

Physics, Optics, Technology, Computer Science

13 points by PaulHoule 51 days ago | 2 comments

Surprisingly simple method makes a low-cost, tuneable liquid lens (cosmosmagazine.com)
Scientists from the Philippines have come up with a clever way to make adjustable water-based liquid lenses, which they say could be used as accessible and low-cost improvised lens systems in classrooms and laboratories.

Science, Optics, Innovation, Liquid Lenses

9 points by geox 54 days ago | 0 comments

Ultrafast Optical Detector (tdk.com)

Optics, Technology, Hardware

33 points by JohannMac 73 days ago | 14 comments

Efficient light control: Meta-optics replace conventional lenses (phys.org)
Conventional curved lenses, which direct light by refraction in glass or plastic, are often bulky and heavy, offering only limited control of light waves.

Physics, Optics, Nanotechnology, Metamaterials

37 points by bookofjoe 89 days ago | 7 comments

Plasmonic Modulators Break Wireless Terahertz Barrier (ieee.org)
A new plasmonic modulator [in gold] transfers signal information from an electrical wave to an optical wave at higher speeds than other modulator technologies.

Plasmonics, Terahertz Technology, Wireless Communication, Materials Science, Optics

25 points by rbanffy 94 days ago | 7 comments

WWI's 'Dazzle' Camouflage Seemed Effective Due to Unexpected Optical Trick (gizmodo.com)
During World War I, navies painted their ships in “dazzle” camouflage, also known as “razzle dazzle.” Unlike traditional camouflage, which helps objects blend into their surroundings, dazzle camouflage used stark geometric patterns to try to confuse German U-boat captains’ perception of a ship’s direction and speed, making it harder to target. But did the dazzle actually dazzle, or did it simply look ridiculous?

Camouflage, Military History, Optics

118 points by ilamont 97 days ago | 69 comments

Show HN: Torch Lens Maker – Differentiable Geometric Optics in PyTorch (victorpoughon.github.io)
Welcome to Torch Lens Maker, an open-source Python library for differentiable geometric optics based on PyTorch. Currently a very experimental project, the goal is to be able to design complex real-world optical systems (lenses, mirrors, etc.) using modern computer code and state-of-the art numerical optimization.

Open Source, Computer Vision, Python, Machine Learning, Optics

179 points by fouronnes3 98 days ago | 45 comments

China Made a Spy Camera That Can See Faces from Space (petapixel.com)
Chinese scientists have built a surveillance camera with unprecedented resolving capabilities.

Surveillance, Technology, China, Space, Optics

14 points by gnabgib 103 days ago | 2 comments

First flat telescope lens that captures color, detecting light from stars (phys.org)
For centuries, lenses have worked the same way: curved glass or plastic bending light to bring images into focus. But traditional lenses have a major drawback—the more powerful they need to be, the bulkier and heavier they become.

Astronomy, Optics, Science, Technology

87 points by wglb 116 days ago | 25 comments

Dramatically improve microscope resolution with Fourier Ptychography [video] (youtube.com)

Microscopes, Optics, Image Processing, Science, Videos

5 points by MaximilianEmel 117 days ago | 1 comments

All-optical control of charge-trapping defects in rare-earth doped oxides (degruyter.com)
Charge-trapping defects in crystalline solids play important roles in applications ranging from microelectronics, optical storage, sensing and quantum technologies.

Quantum Technologies, Materials Science, Optics

30 points by bookofjoe 129 days ago | 2 comments

F/0.38 camera lens made with oil immersion microscope objective (youtube.com)

Photography, Optics, DIY Projects

7 points by mhb 145 days ago | 0 comments

Optical Frequency Combs (nist.gov)
Optical frequency combs are specialized lasers that act like a ruler for light. They measure exact frequencies of light — from the invisible infrared and ultraviolet to visible red, yellow, green and blue light — quickly and accurately.

Lasers, Physics, Optics, Measurement

126 points by zafka 148 days ago | 40 comments

Researchers combine holograms and AI to create uncrackable optical encryption (optica.org)
As the demand for digital security grows, researchers have developed a new optical system that uses holograms to encode information, creating a level of encryption that traditional methods cannot penetrate.

Security, Artificial Intelligence, Holography, Encryption, Optics

26 points by gnabgib 148 days ago | 13 comments

Optical Fresnel zone plate flat lens: colored photoresist through I-line stepper (nature.com)
Light manipulation and control are essential in various contemporary technologies, and as these technologies evolve, the demand for miniaturized optical components increases.

Optics, Nanotechnology, Engineering, Materials Science

61 points by bookofjoe 161 days ago | 14 comments

Getting an all-optical AI to handle non-linear math (arstechnica.com)
A team of MIT researchers figured that if you had a chip that could process photons directly, you could skip the entire digitization step and perform calculations with the photons themselves. It has the potential to be mind-bogglingly faster.

Artificial Intelligence, Optics, Hardware, Computing

97 points by LorenDB 166 days ago | 16 comments

Show HN: Optics Challenge – Design a solar concentrator for a non-round sun (nonimaging-conference.org)
The challenge: Design a reflective solar concentrator with the highest possible efficiency, but designed for a sun with the shape "XX" instead of the regular round shape.

Solar Energy, Optics, Engineering, Design Challenges

10 points by hakonjdjohnsen 172 days ago | 0 comments

Soft Metalens for Broadband Ultrasonic Focusing Through Aberration Layers (nature.com)
Aberration layers (AL) often present significant energy transmission barriers in microwave engineering, electromagnetic waves, and medical ultrasound.

Science, Materials Science, Acoustics, Ultrasound, Optics

16 points by bookofjoe 174 days ago | 2 comments

Nikon reveals a lens that captures wide and telephoto images simultaneously (digitalcameraworld.com)

Photography, Optics, Technology, Innovation, Nikon

191 points by giuliomagnifico 183 days ago | 100 comments

Lens breakthrough paves the way for ultrathin cameras (physicsworld.com)
A research team headed up at Seoul National University has pioneered an innovative metasurface-based folded lens system, paving the way for a new generation of slimline cameras for use in smartphones and augmented/virtual reality devices.

Optics, Camera Technology, Nanotechnology, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality

4 points by sohkamyung 214 days ago | 0 comments

Monocle: Optics Library for Scala (optics.dev)
Monocle is a Scala library which offers a simple yet powerful API to access and transform immutable data.

Scala, Programming, Libraries, Optics

106 points by curling_grad 217 days ago | 69 comments

A “meta-optics” camera that is the size of a grain of salt (cacm.acm.org)
When it comes to cameras, size matters, but not in the way you think.

Camera Technology, Optics, Nanotechnology

244 points by rbanffy 217 days ago | 131 comments