Holographic TV Not Too Far Away

When CNN political reporter, Jessica Yellin, appeared like a hologram on CNN’s Election Day broadcast from New York, what viewers saw could be a glimpse of the future.

With the aid of computers and 35 high-definition cameras, she materialized in the New York studio, in a manner similar to the Star Trek transporters.

Although CNN dubbed the image of the correspondent a “hologram,” it really wasn’t.

According to researchers at the University of Arizona, possibly in another decade it will be possible to purchase holographic television sets that will bring life-sized, 3-D scenes into the home.

In a recent interview with CNN, Dr. Nasser Peyghambarian, chairman of photonics and lasers at the university’s optical sciences department, told the network that scientists have succeeded in creating a 3-D display that can be erased and rewritten within minutes.

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In order to be commercially viable, such a display would have to have a refresh rate measured in fractions of a second, but Peyghambarian is confident the technical issues will be resolved.

Japan too is working on holographic television and the Communications Ministry has reportedly committed to making holographic television available by 2020.