The clip explains things better than we can, but researchers have essentially combined motion tracking, like you see in the Wii, with holograms, like you see on CNN, with ultrasonic waves, like we've seen before but can't really be seen.

Basically, these waves can pinpoint locations with incredible precision, and they're flexible enough to simulate varying textures. So you could interact with a virtual object that you could actually feel, a major hurdle in creating the fabled Holodeck (you know we couldn't get through this entire post without making the comparison).

Things are finally getting interesting, folks. [via CrunchGear]

While CDs are read in 2D space (one layer), and DVDs are read in much the same way (but with an extra layer+ of data), GE's holographic storage uses the entire disc density for storage. Data drawn through chemical reactions floats if suspended in gelatin.

Or...you could let the expert explain it in his own words about a minute in to this clip...Mr. Fancy Goggles and his fancy blue shirt. [via boingboing]

And the even cooler part is that the base tech will be very similar to the laser systems used to read CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs today, so the new holographic-enhanced players and drives would still be backwards compatible with previous optical discs.

Still quite a while until this approaches the realm of a product, but it's good to know about the next stupid format war this will surely spawn well before it happens! [NYTimes]

After one day of shooting, World Builder was in post production for 2 years. Despite its extremely small artistic team (essentially one guy), the first half of the piece deploys some really believable visual effects to establish a sort of virtual reality version of Illustrator or Maya.

The clip, be it a tad long for internet perusal, is a real pleasure to watch. Load it up when you have a few minutes to dedicate to your imagination. [Thanks Helen!]

One branch of theoretical physics believes that the Universe is just a holographic version of 2D information. And scientists have observed such being true, the 2D horizon around a black hole encoding the data from its earlier 3D star stage. You've observed the idea yourself as well, as it's not so different from a 3D movie playing from a DVD, or even music playing from data on a CD, really.

From New Scientist:

If space-time is a grainy hologram, then you can think of the universe as a sphere whose outer surface is papered in Planck length-sized [ed: uber tiny] squares, each containing one bit of information. The holographic principle says that the amount of information papering the outside must match the number of bits contained inside the volume of the universe.

Since the volume of the spherical universe is much bigger than its outer surface, how could this be true? Hogan realised that in order to have the same number of bits inside the universe as on the boundary, the world inside must be made up of grains bigger than the Planck length. "Or, to put it another way, a holographic universe is blurry," says Hogan.

We won't rewrite New Scientist's entire brilliant piece, but needless to say, that Hogan guy in the quote above not only thinks that a new experiment may have found that noise in our holographic signal—he predicted the experiment's results before they happened. Hit the link to blow your pea brain for the day. Then ask yourself if we're all just bits of information on God's hard drive. [New Scientist and image]

We want to use the massively multi-player online game as an experimental laboratory to see if they’re good enough to convince humans that they’re actually human, that can think on their own, have emotions and talk in local slang. I actually interact with virtual humans in terms of asking them questions and they’re responding.

Once they have them perfected, they want to "deploy" these soldiers using something called "quantum ghost imaging". This will allow to create photorealistic, non-cheesy-fake-CNN-looking holograms out of thin air by "pairing photons that do no reflect or bounce off an object, but off other photons," whatever that means. Parmentola explains it as "“like having a tracing tool … that goes over the image and that’s connected to another one on a piece of paper that exactly imitates what it is that you are tracing with the other pen" which leaves me scratching my head as well. He hinted that this is closer than we can imagine.

The rest of their projects are equally mindblowing. Although this used to be the subject of much rumorology and speculation, the Parmentola confirmed that they are working in:

• A project to erase bad memories, which will be critical in helping soldiers with psychological damage.
• Devices that will translate one solider's thoughts into electrical signals that can be beamed to other soliders, to help in stealth operations.
• Growing back body parts, both internal organs and limbs (Parmentola said researchers are not far away from this), using molecular-sized particles that act as nano-scaffolding for the human cells to grow, dissolving after the organ has regenerated.

Let's hope it's no all smoke and mirrors, because this research has the potential to benefit countless others outside the battlefield. [DoD Buzz]

The dude being beamed across the country next to Wolf will have 44 cameras trained on him, with 20 computers in his location crunching the video feeds to produce 360-degree imaging data. All of that stuff is sent to New York, where the images are processed and projected by another array of cams and comps. then, plasma TVs back in Chicago and Phoenix will let the interviewees see Wolf and the other CNN people. CNN can project two different views from each city, so Wolf can be flanked by two different holograms.

Man, I so know where I'm watching the election coverage. The future. [USA Today via The Guardian via Waxy via BBG, Whew]

Sure, the Dreamoc is a tease, but we're pretty sure that's entirely the point. [via Engadget]

Teases for hologram technology are commonplace nowadays, but it is usually taken for granted that the projected images will provide no haptic feedback. Though the researchers have said little about integration with other projection systems, the possibility of a tactile hologram now doesn't seem totally out of the question. There's a major catch, though: the virtual objects won't provide much resistance or seem very "hard," because at high enough levels the aurally imperceptible ultrasound will destroy your eardrums. Even considering the limitations, my hope remains: that we may soon be able to (very delicately) slap people through a webcam. [BBC]

The 6-D project is headed by Ramesh Raskar, who together with his MIT colleagues created the display using nothing but a series of lenses and screens. The prototype is due out at this week's annual SIGGRAPH (Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques) conference, but here's a few teaser details to tide you over until the unveiling on August 11:

By using an array of tiny square lenses instead of the linear ones, [those inexpensive postcard 3-D images] can also be made to change as you change the viewing angle up or down - making a "4-D" image. This reveals different views with horizontal as well as vertical movement of the viewer. The new "lighting aware" [6-D] system adds additional layers of lenses and screens to add two more dimensions of change. The image that is seen is then not only based on the position of the viewer, but also on the direction of the illumination.

Now the good news is this device will be on display in a raw, low resolution form next week. The bad news? A working, high res model, with all its interactive, true hologram goodness, is some 10 years away. My Princess Leia rescue fantasies will have to wait another decade, it would seem. [MIT]

The setup is too elaborate for anything but big-budget presentations and requires quite a bit of space to pull off, but the effect is undeniably hypnotic. It goes without saying that the system doesn't provide tactile feedback to users, so operating the the VisionAire is more akin to interpretive dancing than it is to cracking down on pre-crime in Minority Report, but I'll take what I can get. [Obscura Digital - Thanks, Steve]

Namely, they want said holographic system to be bright, huge, have a great interactive interface, and be visible in 3-D with the naked eye. Watching a little too much TNG, guys? Noah at Danger Room compiles a few sources that say a lot of the holographic optics tech isn't that far off, surprisingly. Instant trips to Tahiti with giant palm-frond fans, here we come! [Air Force RFP via Danger Room]

The glasses use a proprietary holographic waveguide and an optical engine made up of a LED light source and a transparent LCD panel. Video coming from the optical engine is reflected by a film in the holographic waveguide. It then bounces off a glass plate and is diffracted to the eyes by a second holographic film.

Before it brings the glasses to market, Sony is trying to slim the prototype down to 80g and make the lenses transmissive enough to be used in dark places. The company says it's hoping to commercialize the produce by 2010. [Tech ON]

The 15.1-foot projection is a lot bigger than the first holographic appearance by a public personality, a life-sized Prince Charles at Abu Dhabi's World Future Energy Summit.

According to the press at Kuala Lumur, the crowd absolutely loved the high-definition projection of Microsoft's founder and Galactic Emperor, which apparently looked "life-like" and "impressive." Don't know about the first, but we will have to agree on the latter. [The Star Online]

Essentially just laser-etched plastic sandwiched between layers of glass, when massive amounts of voltage are applied—9 kilovolts, to be exact—viewers can enjoy a true, all-red 3D display. With sizes up to only 4 inches, write times of 3 minutes and a shelf life of just a few hours, you won't be seeing these holograms around anytime soon. But your dreams of absurdly tacky monochromatic 3D photoframes are not in vain. [uanews via newscientist]