Sharper 3D Holograms

Better focus with projection.

Sharper 3D Holograms Come Into Focus New projection method is key to depth control and reducing image bleed-through  By SARAH WELLS  in IEEE Spectrum

Actual 3D holograms may be achievable in a projected medium that aren’t blurry or fuzzy but still appear to have real depth, according to a new study. The researchers, based in China and Singapore, exerted a new level of control over the hologram projection’s scattering medium.

Much like flying cars or warp-speed travel, holograms are a kind of technology that was overpromised by science fiction but underdelivered in reality. Today this technology is advanced enough to resurrect pop stars, like Whitney Houston, for convincing stage shows, but the depth of these projections mean that the hologram experience lacks convincing three-dimensionality. Low axial resolution—which is equivalent to the distance from the nearest image plane in focus to the farthest field in focus, also called depth of field—and high levels of crosstalk interference between projection planes have long prevented 3D holograms from achieving finer depth control.

One of the innovations the team developed is a modulating medium for projecting images—similar to what LCD display screens use.

Now, a research team from the University of Science and Technology of China and the National University of Singapore have reported a new technique to solve both of these problems at once to create ultrahigh-density 3D holograms.

“Our work presents a new paradigm towards realistic 3D holograms that can deliver an exceptional representation of the 3D world around us,” says senior author on the paper, Lei Gong, an associate professor of optical engineering at the University of Science and Technology of China. Gong and colleagues call this method 3D scattering-assisted dynamic holography.  .... '