Abstract

For more than three centuries we have been watching and studying microscopic phenomena behind a microscope. We discovered that cells live in a physical environment whose predominant factors are no longer those of our scale and for which we lack a direct experience and consequently a deep intuition. Here we demonstrate a new instrument which, by integrating holographic and virtual reality technologies, allows the user to be completely immersed in a dynamic virtual world which is a simultaneous replica of a real system under the microscope. We use holographic microscopy for fast 3D imaging and real-time rendering on a virtual reality headset. At the same time, hand tracking data is used to dynamically generate holographic optical traps that can be used as virtual projections of the user hands to interactively grab and manipulate ensembles of microparticles or living motile cells.

Details

Title
A virtual reality interface for the immersive manipulation of live microscopic systems
Author
Ferretti, Stefano 1 ; Bianchi Silvio 2 ; Frangipane Giacomo 3 ; Di, Leonardo Roberto 3 

 Sapienza University of Rome, Physics Department, Rome, Italy (GRID:grid.7841.a) 
 NANOTEC-CNR, Institute of Nanotechnology, Soft and Living Matter Laboratory, Rome, Italy (GRID:grid.7841.a) 
 NANOTEC-CNR, Institute of Nanotechnology, Soft and Living Matter Laboratory, Rome, Italy (GRID:grid.7841.a); Sapienza University of Rome, Physics Department, Rome, Italy (GRID:grid.7841.a) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2509429498
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.