In every corner of CES 2024 — which featured 4,000+ exhibitors and close to 130,000 attendees — the biggest buzz was artificial intelligence (AI), powering everything from medical devices and automobiles to supply chains and entertainment. It also played a role in the growing number of holographic-inspired products at the show. In fact, more companies than ever at CES were on hand to show off the holographic-influenced features of their latest products.
Before we dive into a description of those products, first a word about the technology. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines hologram as “a three-dimensional image reproduced from a pattern of interference produced by a split coherent beam of radiation (such as a laser).” No one at CES 2024 unveiled a true 3D hologram — but what we did see was smart, innovative uses of existing technology, often enabled by AI, to create 2D holographic-like imagery for everything from cars to medical devices, consumer electronics and entertainment.
The uptick in holography as a technology category at CES is an achievement, showing that the industry knows the importance of working towards the Holy Grail of a truly 3D image and inspiring consumers to imagine some of the possibilities of holographic imagery in everyday life.
The following are some notable holographic-inspired products showcased at CES 2024.
Holoconnects impressed CES audiences by having its chief executive Andre Smith appear for a live chat via its Holobox, a phone booth-sized device (6.75-feet high) that gave the illusion he was there in person. According to Holoconnects’ North American managing director Steve Sterling, the Holobox is aimed at medical and healthcare settings, including remote surgeries and patient education. In fact, the company has already installed two Holoboxes at Dallas’ Specialty Care Clinics, to allow orthopedic surgeons to conduct post-surgery follow-up visits remotely, but with an in-person experience. Holobox is also aimed at the hospitality and travel, retail, education and events/conferences markets.
The U.K.-based HYPERVSN (Kino-Lo Ltd.) originally launched its displays at CES’s Eureka Park several years ago, and it keeps coming back. Its SmartV system display uses a four-ray rotor to create high-definition 2D imagery and offers a 0.65mm pixel pitch and up to 3000 nits for outdoor use. The company says multiple displays can be synchronized to create a larger display area. Its SmartV Solo — which can be rented or purchased — is aimed at the advertising/branding market. It supports a network of local and remote devices and is scalable to several devices including HYPERVSN’s Wall, which is also offered as a portable unit. Other products include the SmartV Glass Box L3 and SmartV Plex Guards, which protect the SmartV display products. A life-sized “projected human” is also available for use in vertical displays.
Marelli, which supplies mobility technology to the auto industry, unveiled its Software-Defined Interior at CES 2024. With the support of BOE technology and its subsidiary Varitronix Ltd., Marelli showed an OLED portable display as well as its Virtual Assistant, “an advanced human-machine interface that acts as an in-vehicle co-pilot.” The Software-Defined Interior supports Marelli’s HorizonView next-generation pillar-to-pillar display with improved brightness and contrast and a hidden 12-inch display that blends into the cabin.
VTouch, among its other virtual touch products, offers Holo Button, a non-contact floating 2D image that can be used as a button or switch via a distance sensor. Holo Button, is based on technology that uses a 3D camera and AI to analyze the user’s motion, or point of a finger, enabling him or her to accurately pinpoint the button which is always within reach. Among the use cases the company showcased was a Candy Crush game control, a South Korean news app, a food ordering kiosk, Netflix touch panel, elevator panel, smart kitchen display screen, IoT and TV.
ZEISS presented its micro-optics for “unused transparent surfaces in buildings and cars to project information and entertainment content.” Inside a car, its “holographic solutions” can project “important information directly into the driver’s field of view to minimize distraction,” says ZEISS. “The windscreen becomes a transparent display on which ultra-high precision optics are integrated using holographic processes,” it says. Its technology can also be used “for facial recognition on a transparent glazing in a front door or for driver monitoring in vehicles.” Designers can create “floating switches” that are only projected on the surface as needed, with feedback for the user being audiovisual or ultrasonic. ZEISS solutions also “enable the design of custom light signatures for personalized lighting moods” as well as “almost unlimited design freedom for front, rear and brake light signatures.”
Envisics is focused on augmented reality head-up displays (AR HUDs) for car manufacturers and automotive suppliers, using laser-based light sources for high resolution imagery. The company also touts its small form factor and increased energy efficiency compared to “conventional HUDs.”
First International Computer Inc. (FIC) got its start in Taiwan in 1979 as a “one-stop shop” for automotive electronic designing, engineering, and electronic manufacturing services. The company now offers various “smart cockpit” solutions including AR HUD, a Digital Cluster digital dashboard, and most recently, HOLOS, a floating 2D image projected in the center console on a flat plane. The latter was shown at CES as a prototype.
Located in Tokyo, Japan, Holotch offers two apps to create “photorealistic volumetric video” with a simple, portable set-up, for streaming over the Internet (including on 4G mobile networks). The Windows app works with Azure Kinect DK and the iOS app works with the iOS Pro series devices with a LiDAR camera. The company is entering beta for its Unity Plugin, a 2D hologram-like streaming API that can be integrated with AR/VR apps built with Unity.
MUXWAVE manufactures and sells transparent/invisible LED screens for a range of use cases. In different form factors, the displays feature full-screen transparency/invisibility and high-definition imagery. Products include retail windows, glass railings (for malls), commercial atriums, glass curtain walls, exhibitions and showrooms.
Proto Hologram offers its spatial computer platform with its own hardware, software, and app ecosystem. Its 7-foot-tall Epic machine can display a photoreal person or object, streamed in real time from any camera or mobile phone from anywhere in the world. The company will launch M, its desktop version, in Q4.
Summary
An increasing number of manufacturers are focused on the promise of holography. Working with technology that is currently accessible — mixed with some AI — these companies offer interesting solutions that, although my not be truly holographic as physics defines them, provide some compelling alternatives.