The technology to make motion pictures has existed for around a century and the technology to make holograms that appear three-dimensional has been around for several decades.  However, the technology to do both at the same time, creating three-dimensional holographic motion pictures, has not yet arrived.   Some holograms appear animated when one changes one’s position – but generally this is a finite sequence of frames, not a true video image. 

Research is underway at some university and corporate laboratories to develop three-dimensional holographic motion pictures.   Key research centers include those at MIT and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.   This research is expected to lay the groundwork for holographic video within the next five years and for holographic television within the next ten years.

Holographic technology is currently being used to enhance two-dimensional television displays.  For example, a pane of glass with a holographic coating can be suspended in the air in a transparent frame and backlit by a projected video image.   The result is a dramatic moving image that seems to float in mid-air.  However, this is not truly three-dimensional.   Truly three-dimensional holographic video or holographic television involves the creation of a true three-dimensional animated holographic image.  Researchers are beginning to create such animated holograms within translucent volumes.

One of the challenges for creating truly three-dimensional holographic video or holographic television is how to move laser beams so that their three-dimensional intersection changes.  One way to do this is to divide the laser beam carrying the video data into many, tiny, moving laser beams through the use of an array of tiny mirrors whose movements can be controlled by computer.  The intersections of these many, tiny laser beams become the equivalent of three-dimensional pixels for the creation of a three-dimensional moving image.  When this work bears fruit in the years to come, then holographic television may project three-dimensional color images into your living room.   Imagine seeing sports and other events in three-dimensions from different angles as you move around the room or rotate the image.

Recently, Holovisions has been working on its own approaches to creating moving three-dimensional displays.  Holovision's patented Holovision^TM technology has the potential to create high-resolution, large-scale, moving three-dimensional images that can be viewed with full parallax by people in different locations without special eyewear. Holovision^TM may be applied to virtually any field in which three-dimensional moving display would be useful.  Potential applications include: 3D television and movies; 3D computer monitors; 3D computer gaming and virtual reality simulation; navigation and air traffic control;  medical imaging and computer-assisted surgery; 3D teleconferencing; new product design and development; 3D data analysis and manipulation; and telerobotics.  

Matrix Comparison of Progress Toward Holographic Television:

Scientists have worked for several decades toward creating technology to produce truly three-dimensional, dynamic images.   Such technology can serve as the basis for three-dimensional computer and cell-phone displays, movies, and television for applications in the fields of entertainment, engineering, medicine, navigation, transportation, and communication.   In these fields, the term “holographic” is sometimes used in a specific manner to refer to application of true holographic technology to the creation of three-dimensional images.  Other times, however, the term “holographic” is used in a generic sense to refer to the creation of three-dimensional images, or two-dimensional images in  mid-air, by means other than true holographic technology.   In this analysis, we include discussion of research and products with both the specific and generic uses of the term “holographic”.   Specifically, we propose and use the following four-factor framework to evaluate progress toward the development of holographic televisions (holovisions):

3-D Motion Parallax  is the degree to which a projected image is three-dimensional and shifts in three-dimensional perspective when the viewer moves.  (coding: 0 = no three-dimensionality or motion parallax; 1 = low three-dimensionality and motion parallax; 2 = moderate three-dimensionality and motion parallax; 3 = three-dimensionality and motion parallax approaching that of a real environment).

Dynamic Image is the degree to which a projected image has moving, three-dimensional content that is generated by a computer or caused by other means except viewer movement.  (coding: 0 = static image, no dynamic content; 1 = low degree of self-generated dynamic content; 2 = moderate self-generated dynamic content; 3 = fully dynamic, self-generated content -- like a true three-dimensional motion picture.)

Range of View and Immersion is the range of view, up to 360 degrees, over which a projected image may be viewed externally and, secondarily,  the degree to which the viewer can see it internally (immersion). (coding: 0 = narrow range of view and no immersion; 1 = moderate range of view and no immersion; 2 = full 360-degree range of view and no immersion; 3 = full 360-degree range of view and full immersion)

Image Bandwidth is the quantity and rate of data flow  in the projected image -- including resolution and clarity, color spectrum, and refresh rate.  (coding: 1 = low image clarity and color spectrum; 2 = moderate image clarity and color spectrum; 3 = high image clarity and color spectrum.)