There is provided a holographic optical element including: a hologram portion including a plurality of groups of unit regions, each group of unit regions of the hologram portion being configured to produce a respective holographic image under a respective light illumination having a respective predetermined wavelength; and a colour filter portion formed on the hologram portion, the colour filter portion including a plurality of groups of unit regions, each group of unit regions of the colour filter portion being arranged on a corresponding group of the plurality of groups of unit regions of the hologram portion, whereby the plurality of groups of unit regions of the colour filter portion is spatially arranged to form a predetermined colour image. There is also provided a method of forming the holographic optical element. There is further provided an article having optical security incorporated therein.

An apparatus and method to produce a hologram of an object includes an electromagnetic radiation assembly configured to receive a received electromagnetic radiation, such as light, from the object. The electromagnetic radiation assembly is further configured to diffract the received electromagnetic radiation and transmit a diffracted electromagnetic radiation. An image capture assembly is configured to capture an image of the diffracted electromagnetic radiation and produce the hologram of the object from the captured image.

An optical component comprises a metasurface comprising nanoscale elements. The metasurface is configured to receive incident light and to generate optical outputs. The geometries and/or orientations of the nanoscale elements provide a first optical output upon receiving a polarized incident light with a first polarization, and provide a second optical output upon receiving a polarized incident light with a second polarization that is different from the first polarization.

An apparatus for producing an optically variable film includes a laser configured to emit a beam, a telescoping lens section having a first lens and a second lens spaced apart by a first distance and an interferometer configured to direct the beam toward a workpiece. The laser may be operated at a predetermined power level and the first and second lenses are sized and spaced relative to one another to direct the beam onto the workpiece at about 200-230 dots per inch. The workpiece may include a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layer configured to be ablated by the beam, forming a microstructure in the surface of the layer. The microstructure may be randomized and used to present non-chroma visual effects.

Exemplary systems that may reduce or eliminate the visibility of a boundary between the displaying portions of the system and the non-displaying portions of the system are disclosed. An exemplary system includes a display screen including a plurality of pixels forming a first periodic structure and a frame surrounding at least a portion of the display screen. The frame may include a holographic structure having a second periodic structure. The first pitch of the first periodic structure may be within 0.5 percent to 20 percent of the second pitch of the second periodic structure.

Typical waveguides rely on total internal reflection between the outer surfaces of substrates, which can make them highly susceptible to beam misalignment caused by nonplanarity of the substrates. In the manufacturing of the glass sheets commonly used for substrates, ripples can occur during the stretching and drawing of glass as it emerges from a furnace. Although glass manufacturers try to minimize ripples using predictions from mathematical models, it is difficult to totally eradicate the problem from the glass manufacturing process. Typically, these beam misalignments manifest themselves as image distortions and non-uniformities in the output illumination from the waveguide. Many embodiments of the invention are directed toward optically efficient, low cost solutions to the problem of controlling output image quality in waveguides manufactured using commercially available substrate glass and to the problem of compensating the image distortions and non-uniformity of curved waveguides.

An optical master is created by using a nanoimprint alignment layer to pattern a liquid crystal layer. The nanoimprint alignment layer and the liquid crystal layer constitute the optical master. The optical master is positioned above a photo-alignment layer. The optical master is illuminated and light propagating through the nanoimprinted alignment layer and the liquid crystal layer is diffracted and subsequently strikes the photo-alignment layer. The incident diffracted light causes the pattern in the liquid crystal layer to be transferred to the photo-alignment layer. A second liquid crystal layer is deposited onto the patterned photo-alignment layer, which subsequently is used to align the molecules of the second liquid crystal layer. The second liquid crystal layer in the patterned photo-alignment layer may be utilized as a replica optical master, or as a diffractive optical element for directing light in optical devices such as augmented reality display devices.

An image display device according to an aspect of the present technology includes an emission portion, a transparent base material, an irradiation target, and an optical portion. The emission portion emits image light along a predetermined axis. The transparent base material includes a tapered surface having a tapered shape along the predetermined axis. The irradiation target is disposed at least a part around the predetermined axis along the tapered surface. The optical portion controls an incident angle of the image light on the irradiation target, the image light having been emitted from the emission portion, the optical portion being disposed in a manner that the optical portion faces the emission portion on the basis of the predetermined axis.

A method for determining the validity of a parallax image, comprising: receiving a captured two-dimensional image of a parallax image having at least three target identifiers, where at least two target identifiers are located at different depth planes in the parallax image; identifying the at least three target identifiers in the captured two-dimensional image of the parallax image and determining the spatial relationship between the at least three target identifiers in the two-dimensional image of the parallax image; comparing the spatial relationship of the at least three target identifiers in the captured two-dimensional image of the parallax image against a predetermined spatial relationship of the at least three target identifiers that indicates authenticity; and adjudicating the authenticity of the parallax image based on the degree of difference between the spatial relationship of the at least three target identifiers in the captured two-dimensional image of the parallax image and the predetermined spatial relationship of the at least three target identifiers.

Systems may reduce or eliminate the visibility of a boundary between the displaying portions of the system and the non-displaying portions of the system. An exemplary system includes a display screen including a plurality of pixels forming a first periodic structure and a frame surrounding at least a portion of the display screen. The frame may include a holographic structure having a second periodic structure. The first pitch of the first periodic structure may be within 0.5 percent to 20 percent of the second pitch of the second periodic structure.