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REAL LIFE NEWS: SEND ME A HOLOGRAM

by Hazed

In one of those iconic moments from science fiction movies, Luke Skywalker views a hologram of the captive Princess Leia as she pleads for someone to come and rescue her. The 3D message is projected by the droid R2D2 and, barring some transmission errors that make it a bit fuzzy in places, allows Luke to see the message as if Leia was in the room.

Now, researchers in the US may be getting close to making hologram messages a reality.

A team from the University of Arizona says it has come up with a system that can make a holographic display appear in another place, and update it in near real-time. "We foresee many applications, for example in manufacturing," said Professor Nasser Peyghambarian from Arizona's College of Optical Sciences. He suggested that manufacturers of cars or airplanes could "look at holograms and design their systems in real time. They could look at 3D models and make changes as they go."

Or surgeons could carry out a very complicated surgical procedure with surgeons from around the world watching in real-time, in 3D, and helping out.

He didn't say anything about captives sending out requests for rescue, but I am sure it will be useful for that, too!

The system that the scientists demonstrated last week is far from the finished product, but it does give a very big hint about what might be achieved with further refinement. The system is a new plastic screen material that will record 3D holographic images and update them every two seconds.

Maybe one day soon we will be able send our own holographic messages, just like Princess Leia.

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