Nvidia Prototype Shows Holographic Future of VR

Bulky, heavy, uncomfortable headsets are often cited as the main barrier to enjoyable VR use. Nvidia, in partnership with Stanford University, has developed a lens system far more compact than the best-selling VR headsets and “glasses” of today, a system reliant on holograms.

Bulky, uncomfortable headsets could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to developments like Nvidia’s. [Image: Nvidia]

Inserting a holographic image between the eyepiece and a geometric phase lens allows wearers more physical (and therefore psychological) freedom while using Nvidia’s astonishing device over current VR and AR hardware. A reduction in size may seem like an obvious boon to VR, but the extent of its value should not be underestimated. With a pupil-replicating waveguide, a geometric phase lens, and a spatial light monitor, the holographic glasses can bring 3D VR content to both eyes of the user.

For VR Porn, Size Matters

Nvidia's holographic VR device prototype

While awkward-looking at this early prototyping stage, Nvidia’s holographic VR device would make VR porn experiences much more comfortable. [Image: Nvidia]

Nvidia’s approach to reducing device size while maintaining adequate power involves a process called “dynamic eye box with waveguide,” a system that follows the gaze of the wearer and moves the displayed content’s viewpoint according to what the user is looking at. And (if you’re into acronyms and tech jargon), the prototype utilizes High-Order Gradient Descent (HOGD) rather than the more common Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) to offer more pixels in greater detail.

While still in the prototyping phase, Nvidia’s impressive build has been examined in great detail in a report published by Nvidia’s Jonghyun Kim and Ward Lopes and a team of Stanford researchers. Not only does it show plenty of promise, but it bodes very well for the future of virtual porn, too. Lightweight devices easily carried and concealed with the most natural possible version of passthrough video – i.e., looking outside the lens – will undoubtedly make VR porn a more enticing and naturalistic experience. Nvidia may not have been aiming to create the perfect tool for virtual sex, but it just might have done so anyway.