The holograms that we are acquainted with on products or on identity cards do not always mean much to us other than ensuring the authenticity of the product. Not many of us are aware that besides marks of identification, new giant holographic displays are set to have a wide range of functions in medical and industrial fields. Professor Nasser Peyghambarian and Savas Tay from the University of Arizona’s College of Optical Sciences along with collaborators from Nitto Denko Technical Corp. of Oceanside, California have designed a 3D holographic display that can be erased and rewritten within a few minutes. The device has a light sensitive plastic film called photorefractive polymer placed between two pieces of glass coated with a transparent electrode. Laser beams and an externally applied electric field are used to write images on the plastic film. As scientists take pictures of the object or scene from a number of two-dimensional perspective, the holographic display arranges the two dimensional perspectives into a three dimensional image. The greatest advantage of the new technique is quick updating and giant displays, reducing data loss as a series of 2D images are assembled to develop 3D images.
Creating larger hologram displays will come handy in medical fields where 3D imaging is prevalent in MRI or CT scan techniques. However, a large number of 3D data is lost as a greater amount of displays take place on two-dimensional devices like a computer screen or on a piece of paper. Large 3D displays will also revolutionize advertising with larger illuminated product displays.
Source: Physorg
