- Polarization-based imaging technology for consumer devices preserves true shape, texture, and surface detail across lighting conditions for efficient on device perception.
- The same Polar ID hardware for trusted authentication now enables digital presence with Polar 3D.
BOSTON, Feb. 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Metalenz, the pioneer of metasurface technology, today announces Polar 3D, a new set of imaging capabilities that extend the company’s Polar ID™ face authentication platform from security into digital presence. Polar 3D captures lighting independent shape and surface reflection from a single image, allowing consumer devices to generate accurate, 3D-ready facial data instantly on-device without scans, multiple angles, or processor-hungry reconstruction.
Polar 3D uses monocular shape-from-polarization imaging to capture studio-quality 3D facial data in one shot. This allows diffuse and specular reflections to be separated instantly, distinguishing true skin tone and texture from glare and lighting artifacts. The result is facial surface texture and detail that carries across environments and downstream applications, independent of original lighting conditions. For users, Polar 3D enables naturally relightable selfies, photorealistic avatars that retain subtle human detail, and a more true-to-life appearance in virtual try on and copresence environments. Highlights move naturally, shadows fall correctly, and faces remain consistent across lighting conditions.
“Polar 3D brings new optical intelligence directly to users,” said Rob Devlin, CEO and Co-Founder of Metalenz. “By capturing polarization information, we’re no longer asking software to guess how light behaves on a face — we’re measuring it, efficiently and on device. The same polarization data that verifies a real human is present for secure authentication can now enable more expressive, interactive experiences. That means realistic relighting, improved rendering, and richer digital identity — all without adding hardware complexity. Imagine you have the perfect backdrop for a photo, but the sun is in the wrong spot. With Polar 3D, you can keep the backdrop and adjust the lighting to match.”
Because the signal is captured optically at the sensor, Polar 3D dramatically reduces downstream compute requirements. There is no need for scans, long captures, cloud processing, or complex reconstruction pipelines. As a result, the technology is suitable for smartphones, laptops, and other consumer devices.
Polar 3D builds on the same sensor-level metasurface architecture as Metalenz’s Polar ID™, the company’s polarization-based face authentication technology designed to protect against spoofing and ensure on-device trust. Together, Polar ID and Polar 3D form a unified optical platform—establishing identity in the physical world while enabling realism and self-representation in the digital one.
As AI systems move from the cloud into the physical world, they increasingly depend on sensors that measure reality rather than approximate it. By pairing optical intelligence at the sensor with efficient on-device algorithms, Polar 3D delivers the kind of grounded perception required for emerging edge AI applications.
Metalenz will demonstrate Polar 3D capabilities together with Polar ID at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
About Metalenz
Metalenz is driving innovation in optics with metasurface technology, providing image sensing solutions that deliver unprecedented on-device optical intelligence to mass market machine vision, enabling advanced sensing and transformative applications to proliferate where compact size & cost-efficient integration is a must for widespread adoption.
