Metalenz has unveiled Polar 3D, an imaging capability that uses the same polarization-based sensor hardware as its Polar ID face authentication product to generate lighting-independent 3D facial data on consumer devices from a single image, without cloud processing or multi-angle capture.
Announced on February 23, 2026, and demonstrated at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week, Polar 3D uses monocular shape-from-polarization imaging to separate diffuse and specular reflections at the sensor level. The result is accurate surface texture and geometry data that remains consistent regardless of the lighting conditions in which the original image was captured.
The consumer-facing applications include relightable selfies, photorealistic avatars for use in virtual try-on and co-presence environments, and rendering that accurately preserves skin tone and facial structure across different digital contexts. Because the polarization signal is processed optically at the sensor rather than reconstructed in software, the system requires no dedicated depth camera, no extended scan session, and significantly less compute than camera-array or structured-light approaches.
Polar 3D shares its hardware platform with Polar ID, Metalenz’s existing face authentication technology designed around spoof resistance and on-device trust. The two capabilities run on the same sensor module, giving device manufacturers a single optical component that handles both identity verification and immersive imaging applications.
“By capturing polarization information, we’re no longer asking software to guess how light behaves on a face,” said Rob Devlin, CEO and Co-Founder of Metalenz. “The same polarization data that verifies a real human is present for secure authentication can now enable more expressive, interactive experiences.”
Metalenz previously announced that Polar ID integration trials with device customers were underway targeting 2026 deployment, with the Samsung ISOCELL Vizion 931 as the image sensor backing the hardware stack. The Polar 3D announcement extends that commercial roadmap from authentication into digital presence, opening a second product lane on the same physical hardware.
Sources: GlobeNewswire
—
By the Mobile ID World Editorial Team
