Interactive Analysis of Complex Optical Phenomenon

Since 2016, Airy Optics Inc. has leveraged interactive Mathematica features for the real-time analysis of cutting-edge imaging systems, such as design of optics for augmented and virtual reality. Losses of image quality that are based in polarization are often poorly understood, and can be the result of the delicate interaction of many elements within an optical system. Airy Optics' premier software Polaris-M was written in Mathematica as the first dedicated tool for analyzing these effects using real-world data and scientifically proven modeling. This presentation will examine functions and displays written for Polaris-M and for broader demonstrations that leverage the power of Mathematica's interactive features to present complex concepts and data in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. One such function expands the built-in Grid function to better format and display multifaceted datasets, both improving readability and ease of data interaction. Another uses a custom-built framework to allow easy styling control of composed plots of many surfaces. A third example uses dynamic interactivity to condense a variety of analysis functions for high-dimensional measured polarization data into one flexible display. Airy Optics also uses simple, interactive Manipulate examples to teach optical engineering students basic polarization concepts, including helping them visualize polarization states in terms of ellipticity and the degree of polarization. All of these tools have helped us provide faster analysis to our customers in visually engaging ways, contributing substantially to the development of the next generation of AR/VR headsets as well as many other exciting applications.