Researchers there have devised the world’s first recordable holographic system that not only refreshes at the rate of once per 2 seconds (much faster than any previous system), it can also beam the image in realtime across the internet in less than a second.

This is a massive step forward and makes the prospect of holo-tv a likely near future reality.  In fact, members of the team reckon that commercial applications of the technology could be available within several years, and holo-tvs in the home within 7 – 10 years.  Also to be borne in mind is the fact that rival teams (especially in Korea and Japan) are working on their own forms of holo-tv.  As the competition increases, and with the certainty of riches for the first to make a commercial holographic tv, that time scale could seem pessimistic in only a couple more years time.

To put the progress the Arizona researchers have made in such a short time into context, only 2 years ago their technology had a refresh rate measured in minutes, and could only display black and white images.  Now the refresh rate has increased by a hundred times and the images are displayed in (primitive) colour.

The images in the video below may not look spectacular, and a long way off from high-definition holograms in your living room, but bear in mind the progress made in only 2 years time, and imagine what another 2 -5 years work will bring – especially with the likely increase in funding that the team will get.

The team tested the continuous transfer of 2 gigabyte files from 20 concurrent clients using a commercial Web-server application. The files were transferred both upstream and downstream, simulating what a business customer would experience when 20 employees are performing concurrent file transfers to and from remote locations. This test demonstrated an application layer throughput of 9.1Gbps, upstream and downstream. As part of the test, a 2.3 gigabyte movie took an average of just four seconds to download or upload and save to the computers. These download and upload speeds are close to 60 times faster than the maximum speeds capable with cable’s DOCSIS 3.0 technology and more than twenty thousand times faster than the average cable subscriber would experience. An additional test was done to transfer a 6.9 gigabyte medical image file in 11 seconds, demonstrating the potential time and cost savings available on an XG-PON network as collaborative medical work environments continue to evolve.

Totally ridiculous – frighteningly brilliant. I have never ever ever ever ever seen anything as impressive in the world of entertainment. Makes HD and 3D look like black and white television.

A new hi-tech style of luxury shopping for the jet-set pack has been launched in New York with the opening of new boutique The OC Concept store. Consumers can use interactive hologram screens located throughout the store to customise purchases such as watches, superyachts and chalets, with their creations appearing in real-time before their eyes. 

The store, the first of its kind in the US, will also sell expensive things such as art, beauty products, leather goods and elite fashion as well as carrying luxury brands.

Source : Orianne Collins Opens OC Concept Store