Last week we brought you inside the kooky but wonderful Holographic Studios in New York City. While we were there, we learned a whole lot about the history of hologram technology. It’s a sprawling story with many facets — and also lasers.
Holography’s history traces all the way back to the 19th century and early colour photographic experiments of Gabriel Lippman. But it really took shape in the mid-twentieth century, with experiments in microscopy, and eventually took off with the development of the laser.
In the video above, Jason Sapan of the Holographic Studios gives us a crash course in how the shimmering 3D images came to be. It’s more fascinating than any number of not-quite-hologram Tupacs could ever hope to be.