Fully holographic displays like those seen in sci-fi movies will be here within a maximum of two-and-a-half years, according to VividQ co-founder Aleksandra Pedraszewska.
Highlighted on the Code First: Girls ‘Ones to Watch’ 2018 list, Pedraszewska co-founded VividQ to create software that makes highly realistic holographic displays possible.
Thanks in part to their work, having standalone holographic representations of objects, much like the famous Star Wars projection of Leia, is much closer than people think.
“We work in partnership with pretty much all the major hardware manufacturers in the world and everyone’s looking at this tech as something that’s definitely going to happen,” she told BusinessCloud.
“The question is whether it will be in the next 12 months or the next 24. It’s still a tech that’s definitely going to be in the market in a maximum of two and a half years – the question is who’s going to be first to market.
“It’s not a surprise that the companies with the biggest budgets are investing most in the area.”
The tech works because when we’re looking at an object our eyes don’t really see the thing itself, they see light reflecting off the object which then hits the eye, says Pedraszewska.
“If you could recreate the entire light pattern around the object you’re looking at and present it on a 3D display then you’d be able to represent it digitally in a way that would look exactly like the physical object,” she said.
“You wouldn’t be able to tell if you’re looking at something that exists and is real or something that is a projection. It’s a really crazy concept and it’s currently both physically and computationally possible.”
All that needs to happen for these displays to become mainstream within existing devices is for a hardware manufacturer to put all the pieces together and actually build something which incorporates the tech, says Pedraszewska.
“The idea is currently based on tech similar to the 3D experience at the cinema – you need glasses to see the image, it’s not perfectly 3D and your brain and eyes get very tired after a while,” she explained.
“We’re working on creating a display that would be fully holographic – you could see 3D images or projections without glasses, literally bringing the sci-fi concept to reality.
“Any 2D or next generation display – for example, mixed reality headsets or a computer monitor – can become holographic and provide users with a 3D projection right away.”
This could lead to limitless applications, such as seeing email attachments as 3D projection and holo-conferencing – so instead of just watching a person give a talk flat on a device screen, users can see a 3D image of them.
“It would also be great for product design too,” Pedraszewska said. “Designers are often creating products without really understanding the full dimensions of what they’re designing so they can get a representation of what the final product will look like.
“With a fully holographic screen you would see an image almost like the physical object you’re designing.”
Innovation like this is critical for keeping consumer interest and driving forward the tech industry.
“Since we developed very high resolution displays like OLED or LCD, which we currently use in phones and TVs, in the early 2000s there hasn’t been any serious innovation,” said Pedraszewska.
“For the majority of hardware manufacturers the more innovative products they introduce into the market the bigger sales they get because people don’t replace products that often anymore.
“Manufacturers need tangible innovation in their products and to introduce them in a way that makes people really excited in order to push innovation and the tech world forward.”