What is Tsinghua OFE2 Optical Feature Extraction Engine?

Tsinghua University's OFE2, or Optical Feature Extraction Engine, is a photonic computing chip that performs the feature-extraction stage of a neural network, such as convolutional filtering, directly in the optical domain by passing light through patterned diffractive or interferometric structures, offloading that computation from electronic processors to reduce latency and energy use.