MEMS Array Chip Can Project Video the Size of a Grain of Sand
bookofjoe
82 points
36 comments
April 13, 2026
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Discussion Highlights (13 comments)
darfo
Cool. Now I can show videos to my fruit flies! /s Srsly title should be "MEMS Array Chip the Size of a Grain of Sand Can Project Video" not "MEMS Array Chip Can Project Video the Size of a Grain of Sand"
darfo
Oh wait. It does have the correct title. My fruit flies are cheering.
dmitrygr
What is this, a movie theater for ants?
cordwainersmith
How do you even fit a video projector onto something that small, the physics feel like they shouldn't cooperate.
CoolThings
This might be relevant for Augmented Reality headgear.
cubefox
> The chip projected a roughly 125-micrometer image of the Mona Lisa. This may seem small (barely visible as a dot to the naked eye), but that's also the geometric mean of the Planck length and the diameter of the observable universe. So average size actually.
jmward01
I wonder if this has implications for custom home chips/prototyping. I'm sure a big issue is vibrations but something like this could remove the need for masks at least. (again, not my area so I am clobbering terminology I am sure). It may open up home fab capabilities.
antimatter15
This reminds me of the original patents that Magic Leap had, which involved pumping light through a single optical fiber that was wiggled by piezoelectrics into a spiral to project light ( https://kguttag.com/2018/01/06/magic-leap-fiber-scanning-dis... ).
gurumeditations
This is revolutionary. No other way to put it.
cyberax
This is actually getting close enough to manipulate the _phase_ of light! And doing that would allow creating true holograms. Or alternative true augmented reality glasses that are not limited to one focal plane.
kylehotchkiss
Sounds like this will have interesting fiber-optic implications?
jcims
Seems like you could put a few of these on a contact lens and minimally get a small private HUD. Seems like with a few of them (or fast enough scanning speed) you could build effectively a light field to give it depth)
foruhar
Happy days at the ant colony.