Introduction to Extended Reality
The way forward for computer interaction is more likely to be through augmented reality, in accordance with Barry Silverstein, a University of Rochester optics alumnus. After serving because the senior director of optics and display research at Meta Reality Labs Research since 2017, Silverstein has stepped right down to function director of the University of Rochester’s Center for Extended Reality (CXR). The CXR is a transdisciplinary center focused on artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, and every little thing in between.
A Distinguished Career in Optics
Silverstein’s optics education on the University of Rochester was rigorous and difficult, nevertheless it provided him with the technical skills to secure job and the arrogance to learn anything he needed. He began a 28-year profession at Eastman Kodak Company, where he worked on every little thing from space-based optical systems to 3D digital cinema projectors. In 2013, he moved to IMAX as senior director of research and development hardware, where he led a team to design, develop, and commercialize IMAX’s premier laser projection system.
Notable Achievements
The team created the IMAX Prismless Laser Projector, delivering unprecedented image quality with high resolution, brightness, and contrast required for IMAX’s premier theatrical presentation. This technical achievement earned Silverstein and his colleagues a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2024. Silverstein’s path led to Meta in 2017, where he oversaw multiple teams researching and developing optical, display, and photonic technology for head-mounted AR and VR headsets.
Advancing URochester’s Leadership on Extended Reality
Silverstein is happy to shift to academia, where he can put others within the position to develop and commercialize products that may reach hundreds of thousands of individuals. He envisions the CXR as a uniting force that brings together experts in a big selection of disciplines to concentrate on a single problem. The co-leads who developed the proposal for CXR include experts from the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the Goergen Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, and the Center for Visual Science.
Future Plans
Silverstein is already ways to expand the scope and expertise of the CXR, and he is happy by the potential of combining the University of Rochester’s strengths in science, technology, medicine, music, and the humanities. He notes that technological change affects society as a complete, and it is important to involve each technical developers and people who can understand the social implications of technology’s applications. In the longer term, the CXR will concentrate on AR/VR hardware and artificial intelligence, working towards a typical goal.
Conclusion
The appointment of Barry Silverstein because the director of the Center for Extended Reality marks an exciting recent chapter for the University of Rochester. With his distinguished profession in optics and his vision for the longer term of prolonged reality, Silverstein is poised to guide the CXR in advancing the University’s leadership on this field. As he looks to the longer term, Silverstein is confident that the CXR will grow to be a connecting force, bringing together experts from various disciplines to concentrate on a single problem and making a brighter future for all.
