Developers from California-based startup Light Field Lab are planning to release the first working prototype of a believable hologram floating in the air by the end of 2018, which can be seen without special headsets. To continue working on the project, the company has already raised $ 7 million in investment.
The engineers at Light Field Lab took the idea of a holographic deck from Star Trek as the basis for their display. According to the scriptwriters of the series, the walls of the holodeck consist of special displays capable of producing a very realistic three-dimensional image, turning an empty room into various locations, recreated by the on-board computer. According to the developers, by 2020 the company plans to finalize the technology and use it to arrange holographic performances.
The first test models of displays will be quite small, their area will be 15 x 10 centimeters, but next year it is planned to bring their dimensions to half a meter. Such modules can be used to make large pavements up to 30 meters wide. Each display will be able to produce 16K resolution and will be able to independently project realistic holograms.
Despite the impressive characteristics and capabilities described by the developers, the Light Field Lab specialists have not yet disclosed the details of how the technology will be implemented.