3D only helps certain films and better tech is visible on the horizon.

Copyright
The Financial Times Limited 2010.
Published: November 3 2010 18:02 | Last updated: November 3 2010 18:02

More than 30
years after the famous Star Wars movie scene in which a hologram of Princess Leia appealed
for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi, US researchers have unveiled holographic technology to
transmit and view moving three-dimensional images.

The scientists at the University
of Arizona say their prototype “holographic three-dimensional telepresence” is the
world’s first practical 3D transmission system that works without requiring viewers to
wear special glasses or other devices. The research is published in the journal
Nature.

Potential applications range from telemedicine and teleconferencing to mass
entertainment.

“Holographic telepresence means we can record a three-dimensional
image in one location and show it in another location, in real-time, anywhere in the
world,” said Nasser Peyghambarian, project leader.

Existing 3D projection systems
produce either static holograms with excellent depth and resolution but no movement – or
stereoscopic films, such as Avatar, which give the perspective from one viewpoint only and
do not allow the viewer to walk around the image. The new technology combines motion with
an impression of genuine solidity.

The heart of the system is a new
“photographic” polymer developed by the California research labs of Nitto Denko, the
Japanese electronic materials company.

A 3D image is recorded with an array of
cameras, capturing the object from different positions, and is then encoded digitally in a
fast-pulsed laser beam, which creates holographic pixels or “hogels” in the polymer.
The image itself results from an optical interference pattern between two laser
beams.

The prototype device has a 10-inch monochrome viewing screen and the picture
refreshes every two seconds – much too slow to convey natural movement.

But the
researchers are confident that, now they have proved the concept, it will be possible to
develop a full-colour system large enough to capture the human body and fast enough to
give smooth movements. Professor Peyghambarian said it would take at least seven to 10
years’ work before a consumer version of the system was ready to test in people’s
homes.

The technology is insensitive to vibration and could be used in noisy
industrial environments for product design and manufacturing.

Telemedicine,
especially for brain surgery, is another application put forward in the Nature paper.
“Surgeons at different locations around the world could use the technique to observe in
three dimensions, in real time, and to participate in the surgical procedure,” the
researchers say.

Prof Peyghambarian was enthusiastic about teleconferencing.
“Let’s say I want to give a presentation in New York,” he said. “All I need is an
array of cameras here in my Tucson office and a fast internet connection. At the other
end, in New York, there would be the 3D display using our laser
system.

“Everything is fully automated and controlled by computer. As the image
signals are transmitted, the lasers inscribe them into the screen and render them into a
three-dimensional projection of me speaking,” he said.