Holograms & Other Sci-Fi Tech of the Actual Future

Republican_Man · **Sat May 21, 2005 9:46 pm Holograms & Other Sci-Fi Tech of the Actual Future**

Alright, Star Wars has their transmissions mostly of holograms, in which video footage is taken of you and made holographic. Do you think that holographic communication is likely? If so, how do you think it would work?

Founder · **Sat May 21, 2005 10:34 pm**

Its possible we will have it in the future. I'm not sure if it will be used for communications like in SW though. Maybe kinda like just to sell things. A hologram will appear when you're walking down the street and be like a "commercial".

You walk down New York and pass several stores. Holograms stand in front of them and try and sell you stuff.

"Welcome to &%$^&^. Please shop here. Our prices are amazingly low!"

You get angry and kick it, but your leg goes through it and you smash a window. Now you're forced to pay for the window. Wow. Holograms are more trouble then they're worth. Lets not advance in that area...

Republican_Man · **Sat May 21, 2005 10:37 pm**

^lol. I can see that, but I would really like the development of communications holograms.

Founder · **Sat May 21, 2005 10:47 pm**

Is there any technology today that is remotely like it? Some kinda precursor to it?

Republican_Man · **Sat May 21, 2005 10:50 pm**

I don't know...holograms are already around, I saw one at the Football Hall of Fame, but they're far from Sci-Fi-like, at least from what I've seen.

madlilnerd · **Sun May 22, 2005 2:20 am**

I saw some in a dolls house in a haunted house ride at a theme park. They really freaked me out. The trouble is, they have to be projected onto something, so you'd have to have a sheet of glass with you when you recieve the transmission.
I suppose it would be useful idea for deaf people, as having a 3D hologram would make it easier for them to interpret the sign language. It's apparently quite hard to understand someone's signing on a video phone.

lionhead · **Sun May 22, 2005 9:48 am**

They way you see Hologpraphic projection in Star Wars are most definitly possible, just need a lot more power then you might expect. But there is more possible than you can imagine if we would use ALL our resources nd Technologies too the fullest.

Republican_Man · **Sun May 22, 2005 10:05 pm**

Alright, I just watched some of the Discovery Channel's "The Science of Star Wars," and they showed blue holograms of even Star Wars ships, watches, and more that were REAL, and said that soon rather than teaching with a Powerpoint presentation, one could teach with a rotating hologram in the CENTER of the room. This makes me think that we are coming remarkably close to this technology.

But I am going to change the name of this thread to encompass more--what technologies of Star Trek, Star Wars, and other Sci-Fi movies do you think may become reality? How would they work.
Right now the US military is enlisting robots similar to those in Star Wars that can act as remote-controlled Probe Droids, hellfire droids, travelling transport droids, etc, and even robots that can do things like R2-D2. Scientists are also developing a form of lightning force-fields to put in prisons, as well as blinding lasers. What say you? List some other ideas that are logical, and everything else that comes with it!

lionhead · **Mon May 23, 2005 4:49 am**

no robot can do the things R2-D2 does

Captain Patrick · Commodore Joined: 06 Mar 2005 Posts: 2421

^^Actually they do. The U.S. Military has robot that can go in and disarm bombs, carry machine guns, and much more.

madlilnerd · **Mon May 23, 2005 10:22 am**

Cell phones came about because of those com things in original star trek.

Otter · **Mon May 23, 2005 10:50 am**

Based on mobile tech of today it seems to me that it's very likely that a lot of the things we see in ST-SW could be produced in time. However it's unlikely they'll work as well.

madlilnerd · **Mon May 23, 2005 10:56 am**

I don't think I would ever trust a transporter

Otter · **Mon May 23, 2005 11:01 am**

well, right now it's 50 50 I'd be better off after than I am now

madlilnerd · **Mon May 23, 2005 11:07 am**

Yeah, you probably wouldn't be in a wheelchair if we had the technology they have in star trek.

zero · **Mon May 23, 2005 2:10 pm**

^true

Republican_Man · **Mon May 23, 2005 6:09 pm**

webtaz99 · **Mon May 23, 2005 7:43 pm**

webtaz99 · **Mon May 23, 2005 8:06 pm**

The problem with recording a hologram lies in capturing the interference patterns of a given wavelength. So you need either darkness and a single-frequency light source or a "perfect" filter (which we don't yet have). Also, unless you can detect the interference patterns in mid-air (which we can't yet), you have allow them to strike a physical surface. And that surface has to have a roughness of (around) 1/3 of the wavelenght of the light you use - all the way across that surface. That's why quality holograms are done on glass.

To display a hologram, all you need to do is reporoduce (or synthesize) the set of interference patterns originally recorded, while removing (or leaving out) the reference signal. We do have devices, made of special layers of crystal which have RF (radio-frequency) signals applied, called "spatial light modulators" (SLMs). They can produce dynamic, computer-generated holograms. But they are limited by our ability to make large high-quality crystals and precisely modulate RF signals. IF we can make large enough SLMs (the SLM must be almost as big as the image produced), with enough quality, and IF we can apply the proper RF signals, and IF we have a computer which is fast enough (we're almost there), we would be able to generate life-size, multi-color holograms. They would never look "real", but they could be at least as good as the ones in "Star Wars".