Holograms have always been a quick, easy way for movies to tell us they’re taking place in the future. As soon as you see someone talking with a human-sized hologram, you realise there’s no way you’ll ever be able to do that, and a part of you dies. Now, a company on Kickstarter promises to bring you the holographic future you’ve always dreamed of.
Yes, this whole thing seems like a pipe dream. But Provision Interactive Technologies has been building 3D holographic displays for advertising and promotional use for a while now, including interactive models with gesture control. Then again, it’s worth noting that while they’re asking for nearly a million crowdsourced bucks, they haven’t actually figured out how to do this yet:
Leveraging the fun, success and credibility of Provision in the commercialization of 3D holographic displays in retail markets, we’ll develop the foundation of the future of holographic technology for everyone, laying the groundwork for known anticipated applications (home game consoles) as well as many exciting future developments.
The funding goal, all $US950,000 of it, will go towards building a six-foot-tall demo rig. If there’s money left over, they’ll attack Phase Two, reducing the size of the projector to something you wouldn’t have to knock down a wall to install. The company says its first application will be video games, with potential later adoption in the military, education, medicine, social networking, apparel — these folks dream big. Since they already do this for a living, Provision will give backers some of their current products as a prize, and when (and if) the life-size display becomes a reality, they’ll take it on tour.
After some of the Kickstarter disappointments we’ve seen, it’s hard not to be sceptical about a project with lofty goals like this. But a life-size hologram is something anyone who’s watched a science fiction movie has secretly dreamed about. Even if Provision doesn’t pull it off, surely someone will eventually. I hope. [Kickstarter via Dvice]