EchoVision vs Grating Simulator

EchoVision is an interactive mixed reality art experience that simulates bat echolocation using custom-designed, handheld, bat-shaped masks based on the open-source HoloKit headset. As users initiate sounds, they experience echolocation—the remarkable navigation method bats employ in darkness—through visual representations of propagating echoes mapped onto the real-world 3D shape of the surrounding environment, scanned in real-time by the LiDAR sensor of a smartphone mounted on the masks. By providing a unique glimpse into how non-human creatures perceive their sensory world, EchoVision promotes an ecocentric design perspective, fostering interspecies understanding and appreciation.

The laser interference pattern is similar to what would be produced by a Laser pointer’s beam passing through a diffraction grating – When you shine a laser pointer (green, 532nm wavelength) through a series of transmission diffraction gratings, you get a beautiful regular array of bright spots. The center spot is the zero-order (undiffracted beam), and the surrounding spots are the various diffraction orders. The symmetry and regularity of the pattern is characteristic of a diffraction grating pattern. This simulation could be used as a demonstration setup for physics education – teaching about wave optics, interference and diffraction. It is a classic physics demonstration that beautifully illustrates the wave nature of light and the principles of diffraction.