Holotronica, creator of a holography/projection screen technology called Holo-Gauze, created a 20m x 9m augmented reality installation for the launch of Team Speedo in New York. A film charting the success of 24 Team Speedo athletes was shown on the Holo-Gauze screen, with the athletes were hidden behind the screen. Each athlete was revealed at specific times in the film.
Analyst Comment
Holo-Gauze is not really a holographic material, of course, although it does create hologram-like effects for an audience. Rather, it is like a conventional scrim in theatrical and other productions. When a scrim is front-lit, it reflects so much light to the audience that they cannot see what is behind it, so it is effectively opaque. This allows action to take place in front of the scrim, or the scrim can be used as a 2D projection screen. When a scrim is not front lit and the objects behind the scrim are lit up, these objects are visible to the audience and the scrim is effectively transparent. By balancing the lighting correctly, objects behind, in front of and projected onto the scrim are all visible.
Holo-Gauze has one key difference from a conventional scrim: it is polarization-preserving for front projection. That means polarization-encoded 3D images can be projected on the Holo-Gauze and be visible to the audience wearing low-cost 3D glasses. Cool! And great for things like rock shows and product introductions! You can see the Holo-Gauze Demo Reel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf7ls2D9KHg and get more information on the material at http://stuartwarrenhill.com/holo-gauze/#. (MB)
