The idea of interacting with holograms is no longer just the subject of science fiction stories. Specialists from one of the Japanese scientific laboratories have achieved the seemingly impossible - they have created a hologram that you can safely touch with your hands.
Unlike the fictional "start-track" holodeck, where the sensation of touch is created by force fields, researchers at the Japanese Digital Nature Group have used femtosecond lasers. This is not the first time lasers have shown tangible 3D images. However, for the first time, the resulting hologram can be touched with your hands without harm to your health, according to Mashable.
The effect of a touch-safe hologram was achieved by shortening the duration of laser pulses and switching from nanoseconds to femtoseconds - millionths of a billionth of a second.
The touch of a finger to the hologram is shown in the video below. A holographic image consists of tiny volumetric elements called voxels. A voxel is a point of light emitted by a plasma that is created when air is ionized by a laser.
Scientists have formed holograms in the shape of a heart, a star and a little fairy. The visible image is a three-dimensional representation of two-dimensional data.
Although the technology does not allow for a real holodeck, the tangible holograms it creates are planned to be used in holographic interfaces floating in the air.
A public demonstration of the development of Japanese scientists will take place at the Siggraph 2015 exhibition in August.
Promotional video:
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