Looking Glass: Bringing AI–powered holograms into everyday life

What if your photos and videos could appear in 3D without a headset or special glasses? Advances in artificial intelligence are making that vision increasingly practical by transforming ordinary visual content into immersive holographic experiences.

Advances in AI are expanding the capabilities of digital displays beyond traditional 2D content. AI models can generate depth information, reconstruct three-dimensional scenes, and process visual data for holographic rendering, enabling more interactive and spatial digital experiences. These developments are supporting the adoption of holographic displays in applications ranging from communication and entertainment to design and visualization. 

One company helping drive this shift is Looking Glass, which develops glasses-free holographic display technologies for consumer and enterprise applications. In 2026, the company plans to launch musubi, which they claim as the first consumer holographic photo and video frame. This AI-powered holographic frame converts photos and up to 30-second videos into 3D displays locally, without requiring a cloud subscription. The company also boasts a hardware portfolio which includes a 16-inch Spatial OLED, the 32-inch Light Field Display, and the 65-inch Light Field Display. 

Looking Glass’s 3D Revolution

Looking Glass technology supports advanced AI implementations, such as combining artificial intelligence with LiDAR and photogrammetry to produce groundbreaking holographic cinema. The company also collaborates with leading tech companies like NVIDIA to power AI-mediated 3D video conferencing systems capable of reconstructing life-sized talking heads using minimal capture equipment.

Through these diverse applications, AI serves as the critical underlying tool that empowers both everyday consumers and industry professionals to easily generate and interact with native 3D content.

Redefining virtual interaction

Building on the evolution of spatial computing, Looking Glass’ innovations demonstrate how AI is being leveraged to generate, stream, and interact with holographic content. The Brooklyn-based startup takes  a massive step forward by bridging the gap between heavy 3D data processing and seamless, human-like virtual experiences.

Behind these advances is a growing portfolio of patented technologies that protect the methods for capturing, processing, and displaying holographic content. In the next section, we examine the innovations in Looking Glass’s patent portfolio.

A system for concurrent high-resolution 2D and 3D holographic displays

Creating immersive 3D displays without the need for special glasses often requires a compromise in image quality. A system that can clearly show highly detailed three-dimensional scenes alongside crisp two-dimensional text or interface elements is much needed in the modern display field. Traditional 3D displays often struggle because they use a technique called spatial multiplexing on a single screen, which drastically reduces the per-view resolution and can make smaller details or letters completely unreadable.

U.S. Patent No. 12,587,629 introduces a solution through an innovative device that combines multiple light sources to display both 2D and 3D images simultaneously without the need for peripheral glasses. The patent details a device with a base screen and a parallax generator that creates a three-dimensional image, paired with a second, transparent screen layered in front of it. Unlike traditional single-screen 3D systems that force all content to share the same resolution limits, this system separates the tasks, providing a crisp, retina-level 2D resolution display while maintaining an expansive 3D optical volume behind or around it.

The system works by using two distinct light outputs arranged in a stacked design. First, a base screen generates a light output that is sent through a parallax generator, such as a lenticular array, which directs different views to each of the user’s eyes to create a floating 3D hologram. Second, this 3D light travels through a second light source, a transparent 2D screen placed at a specific distance, typically between 3 and 10 cm away. By controlling the opacity and light of the transparent screen, the system can seamlessly blend the content, allowing high-resolution 2D text or windows to act as a volumetric guide or cleanly block out parts of the 3D image, ensuring both formats are perfectly readable and interactive.

The patent, titled “Augmented Superstereoscopic Display,” was filed on August 30, 2024, and granted on March 24, 2026. The inventors are Shiu Pong Lee, Oliver Garcia-Borg, Shouvick Koley, Alexander Duncan, Robert Kodadek, and Shawn Michael Frayne. 

A system for displaying authenticated, glasses-free 3D images

A system that can seamlessly present a 3D scene that can be viewed naturally from different perspectives is much needed in the modern display field. Traditional approaches or uncalibrated displays often struggle because they project images that are not perfectly aligned with the screen’s optical components, resulting in 3D images that appear distorted, confusing, or completely garbled to the viewer. Furthermore, it is often difficult to ensure that the software formatting these complex 3D images is only operating on authorized and properly calibrated hardware.

U.S. Patent No. 11,736,680 introduces a solution through an innovative system and method for rendering three-dimensional images while actively authenticating the display hardware. The patent details a system that formats 3D content and verifies the display based on its specific calibration data. Unlike systems that require wearable accessories, this system utilizes an optical element, such as a lenticular array, and securely ties the 3D image rendering to the display’s unique physical calibration parameters, ensuring a crisp, undistorted 3D experience for multiple viewers at the exact same time.

The system works by receiving 3D content, such as a depth image, and securely processing it for a specific display. First, the system assesses the unique calibration parameters of the 3D display, such as the pitch and slope of its lenticular lenses, and uses a hash key to authenticate whether the display is recognized and authorized. Second, once the display’s calibration hash successfully matches a stored authentication hash, the system provides these precise parameters to a processor, which perfectly aligns and formats the 3D image to the individual subpixels of the screen. By ensuring the rendering software only operates on authenticated displays, the system guarantees the different 3D views are directed accurately into physical space, successfully preventing the nonsensical imagery associated with misaligned or fraudulent screens.

The patent, titled “System and Method for Displaying a Three-Dimensional Image,” was filed on April 19, 2022, and granted on August 22, 2023. The inventors are Evan Kahn, Alexander Duncan, Shiu Pong Lee, Alexis Hornstein, Shawn Michael Frayne, and Caleb Johnston. 

A system and method for holographic communication

Experiencing three-dimensional displays with high realism requires managing immense amounts of visual data. A system that can smoothly capture and display real-time 3D holographic images is much needed in modern communications. Traditional 3D video methods often struggle because their massive image sizes require prohibitively large bandwidths and processing power, making real-time transmission challenging and often resulting in visual artifacts, such as unnatural shadows or missing facial information.

U.S. Patent No. 11,415,935 introduces a solution through a specialized system for holographic communication that drastically cuts down data requirements. The patent details the use of an image capture subsystem and a holographic display that work together to generate a targeted set of views based on specific user parameters. Unlike traditional systems that capture and attempt to process entire complex 3D environments, this system selectively decreases bandwidth requirements by generating and transmitting only the views necessary for the user’s current perspective.

The system works by managing the light field image data in two distinct ways. It determines user parameters by tracking the viewer’s head or eye position using dedicated sensors or an eye-tracking module. The system generates tailored holographic views from a remote camera array based directly on those tracked eye poses. To further reduce the data load, it can segment these captured images into a foreground and background, compressing and transmitting only the essential segments like the foreground subject and to the receiver’s display. This targeted capturing and processing allows for a seamless, real-time holographic communication experience.

The patent, titled “System and Method for Holographic Communication,” was filed on June 23, 2021, and granted on August 16, 2022. The inventors are Alexis Hornstein and Shawn Michael Frayne. 

Legal representation for all featured patents was provided by Jeffrey Schox and Randy Mehlenbacher from Schox Patent Group.

Looking Glass: Patenting Activity

Looking Glass’s patenting activity in 2015 has focused on holographic communication and display systems, along with the specialized hardware required to support 3D volumetric and augmented superstereoscopic displays. Its patent portfolio spans computational methods for processing three-dimensional images and generating or capturing light fields, as well as physical systems designed to enable advanced retroreflecting aerial viewing and superstereoscopic displays with enhanced off-angle separation.

Looking Glass has maintained a steady innovation cadence, exhibiting a growing patent over the years that resulted in 26 active patents, further developing in its holographic image display, lightfield capture, and superstereoscopic technologies.

Looking Glass: Top Legal Representatives

Looking Glass has primarily relied on Schox Patent Group for the majority of its patent filings. Patent filings associated with Schox Patent Group list several representatives involved in prosecuting these applications, including Jeffrey Schox, Randy Mehlenbacher, Tom Gwinn, and Diana Lin.

Other legal representatives have played much smaller roles in Looking Glass’s patent filings. East IP is associated with 2 filings, while Yong Noke Haw from SunYoung International Patent & Law Firm and KIPB Japan each represent 1 filing. The distribution indicates that these representatives contributed to a limited number of applications, likely supporting specific filings in different jurisdictions.

Looking Glass: Top Technology Areas

Looking Glass’s patent portfolio is concentrated in technologies that enable advanced visual communication, with a strong emphasis on H04N (pictorial communication) and G02B (optical elements, systems or apparatus). Technologies also include patents classified under G03H (holographic processes or apparatus), reflecting the company’s focus on holographic imaging and the development of specialized hardware for generating light fields and 3D volumetric displays.

The portfolio extends beyond primary optics to encompass the computational systems and electronic hardware required for image generation and display control. Key classifications include G03B (apparatus for taking photographs), G06T (image data processing), G02F (optical devices for the control of light), G09G (circuits for control of indicating devices using static means), G09F (displaying; advertising; signs; labels), H10K (organic electric solid-state devices), and G06N (computational Models).