EPFL startup merges the real and virtual worlds

EPFL startup CREAL has developed a new technology that brings real-life detail and depth to the virtual world. Its image projection system helps to avoid the nausea experienced by most users of existing technologies. The startup raised 7.3 million Swiss francs in funding in 2019, and its prototype devices have attracted interest from a number of major industry players. The holy grail for both virtual and augmented reality is to produce objects and lighting conditions exactly as they would appear in the physical world, ray by ray. EPFL startup CREAL has moved one step closer to this goal with a disruptive piece of tech that is arousing strong interest. Instead of superimposing two flat images to create an artificial 3D effect, the device projects images in a similar way to a hologram and provides multidirectional light that is almost indistinguishable from real-world conditions. The firm raised 7.3 million Swiss francs in funding late last year, and its prototypes have caught the eye of some major players in this sector.