Achieving Interactive Holography Using Computer Graphics

I. History

Holograms are three-dimensional images, which are diffraction patterns produced by a split coherent beam of radiation. They were discovered by Dr. Dennis Gabor in 1947 while he was working to increase the resolution of an electron microscope and discovered them completely by accident. Dr. Gabor gave holograms their name by combining the Greek words “holos” and “gramma,” which translates, “whole message.” 2 Whereas traditional photographs are only able to record the amplitude and wavelength properties of light, resulting in a two-dimensional image, holograms, in addition to storing the amplitude and wavelength properties are also able to store its phase properties. This additional property gives holograms their three-dimensional appearance and allows them to be viewed from many different angles.

Holography was hindered for about a decade after its discovery due to the lack of coherent light source. The solution came with the invention of the laser, which is capable of forming light waves with almost complete coherence. A laser could then be used to establish an interference pattern when reflections of its light from multiple points converge at a single point on a medium reactive to its light. Making holograms using this principle required elaborate setups to stabilize everything to isolate them from external vibrations, which made them difficult to create. These holograms are inherently static allowing for no interactivity.

An improvement came in the form of multiplex holograms, which contain the interference pattern of the same scene at different points in time. Depending upon the angle of view, a different picture can be seen. Thus, a view of the scene in motion can be witnessed by rotating the hologram about its pr...

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...urns to the idea of using holograms in museums as alternatives for replicas of artifacts. A highly, detailed holographic image of the artifact could be created and used for the static content. A computer-generated scene could then be created in the background, perhaps showing the artifact in its original environment. The interactive ability could then be used to display information about the artifact in the same view, which would create an immersive environment for viewer.

Works Cited

1 Bimber, O. (2004, January). Combining Optical Holograms with Interactive Computer Graphics, Computer, IEEE Computer Society, 2004, pp. 85-91.

2 Dr. Dennis Gabor – Father of Holography. (1999). Retrieved November 7, 2004, http://www.hungary.org/~hipcat/gabor.htm

3 Halle, M. (1997, May). Autostereoscopic Displays and Computer Graphics, Computer Graphics, ACM SIGGRAPH, 1997, pp. 58-62.