Holograms and holographic illusions seem the realm of science fiction, but the technology is here, and only a phone app and a DIY plastic pyramid away–essentially, holographic illusions are currently largely used for entertainment, gimmicks, and at a relatively small scale.
Our goal is to leverage this existing technology to create a highly useful and immersive presentation tool: a holographic pyramid that displays a scaled up 3D illusion of a smaller object from a local studio. Furthermore, this presentation tool would display the object using a real-time video feed, thus providing a level of interaction not possible with digital renders or simple photos; the presenter would be able to easily move the object and also to display moving objects, with no overhead of preparation or rendering time. Thus, our product would be invaluable for archeological researchers and scientists, who may need to show an artifact or small piece of equipment to a large audience. Our design goals are key characteristics necessary for a high-quality presentation tool: video frame quality and resolution, enlargement of presented objects, low latency, stable timing, and success of the three dimensional illusion.
Figure 1: Example of a holographic pyramid using a smartphone (Citation)