Technology never runs out of products. More than that, its innovative approach unleashes in style. Just when the world starts to let its 3D experiences sink in, here comes another one.
Star Wars, Star Trek and a whole bunch of science fiction films have introduced people from different generations to a dimension of sophisticated communication. It is certain that the hologram will be a major contender. Currently, it is in the market.
The true 3D display comes in the form of a structure identified as Volume. Looking Glass unveils a realistic approach of sharing content between people. The absence of a headset has made this startup's product quite compelling.
Volume depicts a personal display that goes interactive. The fact that it has a touch-sensitive screen makes it a natural partner to share things with. It is considered as the world's primary affordable personal volumetric display.
Although Volume looks promising, it is quite out of its time considering that observers will always be asking what is it for. Perhaps its due contribution is for developers who are in the process of creating sophisticated content. Nonetheless, this first generation device comes out of the box with the intent of providing 3D images. Definitely, this product needs to be developed further. Despite having a resolution of more than two million pixels, its projected images are blurry and the graphics are fainted especially in low light.
The Looking Glass Company reveals that making the hologram leaned on a process called lightfolding. The process involves the projection of millions of colored light points into a glass cube that has a measurement of 21.2 x 10.6 x 7.6 inches. The screen, which has dimensions of 10.1 x 7.6 x 5.9 inches, acts as a canvass for the light show. A projector is installed at the bottom of the unit. Aside from a touch-sensitive panel, a Leap Motion allows people to wave their hands in front of the screen in order to move things around.
Initially, Volume is incorporated with Unity3D for easy display of items on the device. Looking Glass says that it will be adding 2D creation tools and an app library which will support volumetric arcade games such as Adobe Animate, Volume Paint, Volume Sculpt and 3D Etch-a-Sketch. It is also being planned that iPad app Holovid, which records and playbacks volumetric videos, will be incorporated into the unit.
Volume may be promising but it is hampered by capabilities that are already being shown by today's technology. Glass-free 3D TVs are already out. Smartphone cover Holoflex is similar to the Looking Glass product. Until Volume exhibits a resolution with marginal standards, the display structure will find it difficult to get out of the market.
Volume is being marketed as a product that compatible with Mac and PC, accessible to free App Library, has a built-in speaker, provides full color depth and points out that 3D glass not required. However, at a price of $999, the hologram will find it difficult to compete with today's emerging technological products.
