SoylentNews

upstart [soylentnews.org] writes:

████ # This file was generated bot-o-matically! Edit at your own risk. ████

upstart [soylentnews.org] writes in with an IRC submission:

True holographic movies are within grasp [phys.org]:

August 31, 2020

True holographic movies are within grasp

Holographic movies, like the one R2D2 projected of Princess Leia in "Star Wars: A New Hope," have long been the province of science fiction, but for most of us, the extent of our experience with holograms may be the dime-sized stamps on our passports and credit cards. By using 'metasurface' materials that can manipulate light in ways that natural materials cannot, researchers reckon they have finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel for creating true holographic movies.

The findings, by a team at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), were published on August 3rd in Optics Express.

Static holograms are all around us these days on our money, credit cards, and passports.

These 'surface-relief holograms,' stamped onto plastic in a similar way to how vinyl records are embossed, can be useful as a security device or to make wrapping paper twinkle, but they are known for their low image quality, still imagery, and limited viewing angle. In the third decade of the 21st Century, we don't yet have true holographic movies, despite their ubiquity in popular culture.

Even the 'holograms' of pop stars that are increasingly common spectacles at concerts aren't true holograms, but an updated version of a very old theatrical trick deceiving the eye with mirrors and light—an illusion that is easily revealed as such if the viewer moves just slightly to the side of the set-up.

But researchers at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology have demonstrated a genuine holographic movie, whose concept is inspired by the sequential playback of the very first cinematographic projectors of the 19th century.

Journal Reference:
Ryota Izumi, Satoshi Ikezawa, Kentaro Iwami. Metasurface holographic movie: a cinematographic approach [open], Optics Express (DOI: 10.1364/OE.399369 [doi.org])

Original Submission