Previously limited to sci–fi, or as part of the collective imaginarium, holograms are now becoming a ‘present tense’ thing. For example, in Hollywood movies you could see Darth Vader talking to Emperor Palpatine through a hologram, or Captain Picard programming his strategy through a Holotable, but even with the most advanced and groundbreaking discoveries, this technology seemed so far away from us. Until today.
Let’s go to the other side of the world, where the Australian company Euclideon is working on a prototype of what they call the world’s first true multi-user hologram table. By wearing a small set of glasses (like the ones you used with your now forgotten 3D TV), four people can interact with it. They hope to release this system in 2018.
Can you grasp the impact of this idea if it is done right? We have explored Augmented and Mixed Reality before, but there are many issues and limitations that can prove troublesome for some people, such as the device being too heavy, or that the battery doesn’t last long enough. But, this doesn’t seem to be the case with Euclideon’s Holographic Table. It seems very promising according to details on their website – for example, on the resolution directly in front of you, you will be able to project anything from a whole city to single blades of grass with perfect fidelity. Sounds incredible, doesn’t it?
As we know, not every product delivers. Let’s assume this one does, and let’s transport ourselves to the healthcare context. Can you imagine the impact this technology could have on any medical specialty? For instance, it could bring a whole new level to telemedicine and telementoring – you could have a photorealistic view of a real patient in front of you during surgery in proper scale with your classmates, you could use it to design hospitals and its spatial distribution with architects and physicians working side by side in real time, or maybe pathologists around the world could be performing autopsies like they did in the XVII century? The possibilities are endless! Take a look at how the Holographic Table works in the video below.
At ARinMed, we believe that the possibilities for this table lies in medical education. Of course, it could also be used on practice-based scenarios like surgery planning. If you take a deep look at it, you can infer that this could even change the educational model we are using now! Many of those possibilities could be also experienced with the regular AR headsets, but it is the potential of a more interactive approach and multi user experience without the big, heavy AR helmet what makes the Holographic Table a new and exciting alternative. As of right now, this technology is very expensive (around $50,000 USD a table), but we are confident it’ll become cheaper with time.
What other uses you think the Holographic Table will have? Please let us know in the comments section.
This is SO Star Trek. How cool?!