Systems and methods are described for providing a 3D display, such as a light-field display. In some embodiments, a display device includes a light-emitting layer that includes a plurality of separately-controllable pixels. A lens structure overlays the light-emitting layer. The lens structure includes an array of collimating optical elements. A phase-modifying layer is positioned between the light emitting layer and the lens structure. The pixels of the light emitting layer are used in generating spatial emission patterns that work in unison with the phase-modifying layer in order to generate beams of light through the collimating optical elements with extended focus depths. Multiple beams are used to generate voxels at various distances from the display surface with the correct eye convergence for the viewer. Beams with extended focus depths may be used to generate the correct eye retinal focus cues.

An apparatus for measurement of surface relief provides a phase sensitive camera and processing to reconstruct a wavefront profile matching the surface when illuminated with a known light source thereby providing noncontact surface relief measurements.

A method for high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, in which a number N of partial images of a specimen marked with fluorophores and excited to emit fluorescence are recorded, wherein the specimen is successively illuminated by N different effective illuminating patterns, a composite image is calculated from the partial images, the composite image having a higher structural resolution than the partial images, and the composite image is subsequently output, wherein each effective illuminating pattern is generated from the superimposition of at least two basic illuminating patterns, with the basic illuminating patterns differing from each other and for each partial image, and wherein the fluorophores contained in the sample are excited to emit fluorescence only where the at least two basic illuminating patterns superimpose to illuminate the sample, with the illumination superimposition of the at least two basic illuminating patterns releasing non-linear excitation and/or emission effects and/or switching effects in the fluorophores.

An illumination system may include an illumination source, a line-projection system to simultaneously illuminate a pupil plane with a static distribution of a plurality of one-dimensional (1D) coherent beams. Each of the 1D coherent beams of the plurality of 1D coherent beams may extend lengthwise along a coherent direction between boundaries of the pupil plane, have a width along an incoherent direction perpendicular to the coherent direction, and are distributed in a parallel distribution along the incoherent direction. Each of the 1D coherent beams of the plurality of 1D coherent beams is also spatially coherent along the coherent direction and spatially incoherent along the incoherent direction. The system may further include an objective lens to form a light sheet in an imaging plane based on an incoherent superposition of the plurality of 1D coherent beams.

An apparatus for measurement of surface relief provides a phase sensitive camera and processing to reconstruct a wavefront profile matching the surface when illuminated with a known light source thereby providing noncontact surface relief measurements.

Systems and methods are described for providing a 3D display, such as a light-field display. In some embodiments, a display device includes a light-emitting layer that includes a plurality of separately-controllable pixels. A lens structure overlays the light-emitting layer. The lens structure includes an array of collimating optical elements. A phase-modifying layer is positioned between the light emitting layer and the lens structure. The pixels of the light emitting layer are used in generating spatial emission patterns that work in unison with the phase-modifying layer in order to generate beams of light through the collimating optical elements with extended focus depths. Multiple beams are used to generate voxels at various distances from the display surface with the correct eye convergence for the viewer. Beams with extended focus depths may be used to generate the correct eye retinal focus cues.

Systems and method for high-speed single-pixel quantitative phase contrast optical imaging are provided. This imaging technique can bypass the use of conventional image sensors and their associated speed limitations. The quantitative phase images can be acquired much faster than conventional quantitative phase imaging by a chirped-wavelength-encoding mechanism via wavelength-swept laser sources or optical time-stretch based on optical fibers, without the need for interferometric approaches.

According to an example embodiment, a stereoscopic near-eye display (NED) assembly for a NED device including a pair of NED assemblies is provided, where an input image is subjected to a preprocessing procedure that applies image-area-position dependent preprocessing before providing it for viewing through a lens assembly that comprises a diffractive optical element (DOE) arranged to provide a phase delay that is different through a plurality of positions of its aperture. According to other example embodiments, an apparatus and a method for deriving the preprocessing procedure and the DOE are provided.

The present invention is a system, computer program product, and method for generating multiple virtual image displays. The system includes a housing having an open end and a closed end with a plurality of sidewalls extending between the open end and the closed end. There is a main display area at the closed end and a sidewall display area on each sidewall. The system further includes a computer within the housing operably connected to the main display area and sidewall display areas. The computer is programmed, structured, and/or configured to generate a plurality of virtual display areas opposing each sidewall display area and a plurality of secondary virtual display areas extending outwardly from the virtual display areas.

A method of minimizing cross-talk between optical modes propagating in a multi-mode optical fiber, comprises superimposing a plurality of optical wavefunctions; determining a relationship between superpositions of at least some of the optical wavefunctions and at least one measure of orthogonality of the optical modes at an output of the multi-mode optical fiber; and identifying a superposition of at least some of the optical wavefunctions that provides a desired or optimized value of the at least one measure of orthogonality using the determined relationship. The method further comprises generating, using light from a laser and at least one optical component, the identified superposition of at least some of the optical wavefunctions that provides the desired or optimized value of the at least one measure of orthogonality.