Researchers at the University of Arizona have demonstrated a holographic display that can be erased and rewritten within minutes. Unlike conventional holograms that retain one permanent 3D image, the dynamic display can replace its recorded scene.
The display uses a photoreactive polymer between two glass plates coated with transparent electrodes. A laser and an external electric field write the material. The object or location is captured from several two-dimensional viewpoints, and the display combines those views into a three-dimensional image.
Researcher Nasser Peyghambarian said recording takes three minutes and the resulting image remains stored for three hours.
Potential applications include surgical training, pilot training and commercial displays. A system could represent the airspace around an aircraft with surrounding objects or present three-dimensional product images in retail environments.
The prototype measures roughly ten by ten centimetres and currently produces only red images. The researchers intend to scale the display to one square metre, add colour and increase writing speed through pulsed lasers. Considerable development is still required before the technology can reach signboard scale.
