From 15 to 19 September, OPN was at the 2019 OSA Frontiers in Optics (FiO) meeting in Washington, D.C., providing on-the-scene coverage of selected sessions, talks and events. We’ve posting our dispatches from the meeting on this page. You can also find content from the meeting at OSA’s YouTube channel, the society’s public-affairs newsroom, and the FIO/LS blog.
AR/VR
No Moore’s Law in Optics
A key member of Microsoft‘s AR research team offered a whirlwind tour of the optical components in cutting-edge headsets like the company’s HoloLens mixed-reality smartglasses. [19 September 2019, 17:45]
AR/VR
Through the Looking Glass
A showcase floor demonstration at FiO+LS 2019 allowed attendees to interact with 3-D holographic displays. [19 September 2019, 17:00]
Lasers
The Enduring Impact of Two Discoveries
A two-session symposium at the close of FiO+LS 2019 looked at the long-term scientific influence of optical tweezers and chirped-pulse amplification. [19 September 2019, 16:25]
Communications
Visions of a Quantum Internet
A plenary talk at FiO+LS 2019 dug into the potential, and challenges, in creating a worldwide network of quantum information. [19 September 2019, 08:45]
AR/VR
The Social Impacts of AR/VR
MIT professor and wearable-computing pioneer Thad Starner spoke about the social implications of augmented reality and related technologies at FiO+LS 2019. [18 September 2019, 18:00]
AR/VR
“True Believers” Envision a VR/AR Future
At FiO+LS 2019, three leaders in VR/AR research looked at the elements that will define market-leading displays for virtual and augmented reality—and the need to keep the end user in mind. [18 September 2019, 16:45]
Vision
Help for Getting Back in Focus
A presentation at FiO+LS 2019 recounted progress toward a device to help aging persons regain the ability to dynamically refocus on near and far objects. [18 September 2019, 11:10]
Ultrafast
Checking in with the Brightest Light Initiative
The technology co-chair of a 2019 ultrafast-laser workshop gave audiences a sneak peek into an upcoming report, identifying future opportunities for ultrafast-laser science in the U.S. [17 September 2019, 17:15]
Bio-Inspired Design
Color: From Nature to Applications
OPN talks with U.K. researcher and FiO+LS 2019 invited speaker Silvia Vignolini about her work engineering structural colors based on models in the natural world. [17 September 2019, 17:45]
Nanophotonics
Nanophotonic Design, Optimized
Stanford University’s Jelena Vuckovic sketched out her team’s machine-learning-driven approach to designing tiny photonic components—and making them semiconductor fab–ready. [17 September 2019, hh:mm]
Careers
Applying Your Ph.D. to Industry
A professional-development session at FiO+LS 2019 covered the top 40 jobs for STEM Ph.D.s—and how to score them. [16 September 2019, 18:15]
Sensors
Sizing Up Markets for Autonomous Systems
Talks at FiO+LS 2019 offered different perspectives on the prospects for optical sensors in self-driving cars, drones and other platforms. [16 September 2019, 15:40]
Nanophotonics/Plasmonics
Light Confinement Gets Extreme
In a Visionary Speakers talk at FiO+LS 2019, Jeremy Baumberg of Cambridge University looked at the emerging discipline of “picophotonics”—and the opportunities it’s opening. [16 September 2019, 13:40]
Quantum
Digging Into Quantum Sensors
FiO+LS 2019 kicked off with a rich survey of the state of the art in atom interferometers and other quantum tech—and of their potential applications. [15 September 2019, 17:00]