NANOTECHNOLOGY FEATURE
Virtual reality applications and the future of nanoscale exploration
Matthew Putman, CEO and co-founder of Nanotronics Imaging 3D explores the capabilities of a new system that combines high-quality optical lenses with advanced proprietary computer pattern recognition algorithms and artificial intelligence, to capture nanoscale 3D images
cience is at the cusp of a new industrial revolution in which the ability to understand the world at the nanoscale will enable radical advancements in everything from pharmaceuticals to more sophisticated semiconductors. However, thinking of the world at the
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nanoscale is still incredibly abstract. Nano- images are a good start, but in two dimensions an image still needs to be put in context. To speak of a nanometer in comparison to a strand of hair is still rather incomprehensible. One billionth of a meter is even less tangible. When Jaron Lanier and VPL Research first
commercialised Virtual Reality (VR) in the mid 1980s, its possible applications were still nebulous. VR’s popularity has grown thanks to the gaming industry, and its potential for visualising and investigating atomic structures is now increasingly being realised. With Virtual Reality, one can interact with the world through images in three dimensions and even manipulate them. Nanotronics Imaging recently debuted a
pioneering advancement in this realm called the nVisible that integrates Virtual Reality with 3D microscopic imaging. The new system combines cutting-edge VR capabilities with existing 3D visualisations generated by the company’s nSpec3D microscope. In only a matter of seconds, the system combines high-quality optical lenses with advanced proprietary computer pattern recognition algorithms and artificial intelligence to capture nanoscale 3D images. Users can glean quantitative results and structure classification through only a single gesture, and resolve an image from the macro level down to the sub-micron. Then, a viewer can immediately experience those images in Virtual Reality at the desktop, in the lab, and eventually wherever they are needed. Virtual Reality devices have potential
applications across multiple industrial sectors, such as semiconductors, construction, transportation or power generation, and manufacturing. This system is already being used in the pharmaceutical
/ MICROMATTERS Figure 1:
The nSPEC 3D combines high-quality optical lenses with advanced proprietary computer pattern recognition algorithms and artificial intelligence to capture nanoscale 3D images
An elastomer compound can have well over twenty crucial ingredients from curing agents to antioxidants. Most critical to the quality of the complex web of compounding is the interaction of the nano-fillers with the polymer itself. These occur through van der Waal forces. Due to the increased reinforcing power and lower fill quantities, nano-fillers offer substantial advantages over traditional fillers such as carbon black. The resulting product of a complex elastomer compound ranges from aerospace and automotive seals and tires, to medical devices. The integral tests mentioned here show
the results of the fillers, but do not provide specific information or a visualisation of how the nano-particles interact in the sea of polymer. nVisible offers a chance to visualise and feel the spatial vastness between particle aggregates, as well a visceral experience of climbing a poorly mixed agglomeration of nano-particles. In elastomer production, as well as its other applications, 3D microscopy enables the viewer not only to better understand what is a peak or a valley, but to virtually traverse the terrain of a material. Allowing a much greater understanding of a compound in a visceral way has the potential to be a revolutionary advance.
industry to develop more efficient delivery systems, but its first customers were inside the elastomer industry.
NANO FILLERS An elastomer’s quality is highly dependent on the optimisation of filler dispersion, and the industry has long relied on a series of integral testing methods for verifying the quality of compounds. These include rheological, duromoter and tensile testing.
VIRTUAL REALITY PLATFORM The state of the art in Virtual Reality has only in the last several years increased dramatically due to innovation and consumer demand. nVisible works with a variety of available platforms, from Oculus Rift to newer devices that work with mobile devices, such as Google Cardboard and Samsung VR.
The resolution and latency issues of the Figure 2:
An image taken by the nVisible
past still present a challenge, but will continue to improve: the visual world presented in VR is expected to be equivalent to a retina display by 2018, although many in the industry say this could happen sooner. In the coming decade, VR may be used to optimise a variety to processes and industrial functions, especially projects requiring meticulous tagging and cataloguing of molecules. In essence, Virtual Reality applications are no longer a pipe-dream of the future - they are a reality happening right now.
Nanotronics Imaging
www.nanotronicsimaging.com info@nanotronicsimaging.com
MICROMATTERS | SUMMER 2015 11
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