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3-D Holograms: Really? No Fooling? |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Arts & Science
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Monday, 06 October 2008 |
Grandpa, circa 2055: Why, when we were kids, we played our video games with a console and a TV set! We didn’t have no fancy holographic displays or biosoft wetware! We used a control pad, with buttons – and we liked it! If you were really lucky, you might have a plastic dance pad on the floor! And our games came on compact discs – in a box! With booklets! None of this brainwave molecular ethercasting! You kids today are spoiled rotten…
News is making the rounds today that researchers out of University of
Arizona have made a breakthrough in developing actual 3D hologram
displays. (Think Princess Leia in the first Star Wars film: "This is
our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only
hope.") Some observers are predicting such displays may come to market
within five to ten years.
 You'll have to forgive me if I remain skeptical, for this kind of thing
is right in my wheelhouse. I've been following hologram displays for
more than a decade now. (And "hologram" is the proper term, by the way.
Holographs are a whole 'nother thing.) My interest is primarily in
virtual reality gaming applications, and these guys are working on TV,
but the basic technology is the same.
The kind of holograms we really want – 3-D projection displays that
stand alone in open space – are still more conceptual than anything
else at this point. The amount of computational power required to do a
true full-motion, full-color hologram display is ridiculous. Hologram
technology already exists in “white light” displays like the security
imprint on your credit card. Larger holograms can be created in real
space, but still require lasers and a physical projection surface.
I'd need several dozen hours to get into more detail, so you'll just
have to take my word on this one for now. Nevertheless, all props to
the U of A boys -- I still hope to see this happen in my lifetime. You
fellows want a few pointers, you just drop me a line…
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