It may be one step closer to the realization of holograms floating in the air

Still too small to see with the naked eye, but the possibilities are endless.

Researchers at Brigham Young University, who in 2018 perfected what they called a "floating 3D hologram," have now demonstrated a new technique that can animate holographic images.

In the first place, many 3D holograms are displayed using special screens. The image certainly seems to exist in 3D space, but the weak point is that if you shift one step to the side, you will not be able to see anything. In contrast, the new study takes a completely different approach.

Using lasers to project holograms into 3D space

Researchers used lasers instead of screens. Invisible lasers manipulate tiny opaque particles floating in the air, and visible lasers illuminate them with different colors as they pass through predetermined paths, making them appear floating to the human eye. It looks like an image to do.

In the past, what you could see was limited depending on the viewing angle, but in the new research, holograms appear in three-dimensional space, so you can see them three-dimensionally from any angle.

Researchers spent three years refining the technology. Recreate Star Trek spaceships fighting in the air with photon torpedoes (recreating vector animation-like explosions from Tron), or Obi-Wan and Darth Vader duel with lightsabers (with real lasers). I demonstrated the effect by reproducing the state of doing. You can see how the laser animation creates an interesting effect in the video below.

Optical tricks can make it look bigger

Furthermore, researchers have figured out how to make holograms interact with the movement of real objects. . Optical tricks like perspective and parallax motion can be used to make holograms projected in front of us appear much larger than they actually are. It seems that these effects can also be applied to smart glasses.

Currently, holograms are so small that you need a camera with a macro lens or a microscope to see the detailed effect. If the technology advances in the future, it will be possible to combine moving particles to increase the effect.

Maybe Star Trek's holodeck is on the horizon... but it doesn't seem to be the case, but it shows that such sci-fi technology is not a completely impossible idea. It seems that.