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Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

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Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#91

Post by lokl »

hologram-paul wrote: post #89
lokl wrote: post #88

Very interesting, but the 1 mm hogel size is a bit disappointing. Do you think you can improve this? How much?

We currently have a 0.5x0.5mm resolution as a Kickstarter stretch goal. Where things like lenticulars do have fundamental limits concerning depth vs resolution based on diffraction limits, holograms do not have similar constraints. Ultimately, there is no reason these holograms can't reach resolutions similar to print (and better). Following the 3D printing market examples, we chose to start simple and then build on…

Thanks for answering. I'm going to follow your progress and wish you success.

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#93

Post by Cerium »

Ellipsis753 wrote: post #90

Tangentially related, but does anyone have a trick to Google search for holograms without getting pages of lenticular/pepper's ghost items instead? I'd like to buy a couple of pre-made holograms just to get a feel for them, but can't find anywhere selling them?

Add some detailed keywords. In this case "reflection hologram" is a good keyword and I see a bunch of reasonably priced items on Etsy.

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#94

Post by hologram-paul »

lokl wrote: post #91
hologram-paul wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We currently have a 0.5x0.5mm resolution as a Kickstarter stretch goal. Where things like lenticulars do have fundamental limits concerning depth vs resolution based on diffraction limits, holograms do not have similar constraints. Ultimately, there is no reason these holograms can't reach resolutions similar to print (and better). Following the 3D printing market examples, we chose to start simple and then build on…

Thanks for answering. I'm going to follow your progress and wish you success.

Thanks! I appreciate the support.

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#95

Post by hologram-paul »

haecceity wrote: post #92

How are the holograms encoded on the glass?

The hologram film is laminated onto the glass for stability. The film itself is photosensitive and records the peaks and valleys of the interference pattern of the laser light.

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#96

Post by TheRealSteel »

hologram-paul wrote: post #57
jcims wrote: post #54

Are there any 'industrial' applications for the printed holograms? I'm thinking of these as a type of metamaterial and wondering if this provides some type of novel filtering and/or polarizing capability that doesn't exist today. Also given how this is constructed it seems like it might be possible to create holographic geometries that aren't possible with the traditional method of creating them.

One of the big industrial applications is for Holographic Optical Elements (HOE). Holograms can direct light like a mirrors, color filters, or act as several optical lenses combined into one thin holographic version.

That's really interesting!

I don't know anything about holograms, or about optics (I'm currently implementing code that takes advantage of OpenCV's camera calibration and don't even know some of the basics).

But I've read recently that some companies are trying to make better cameras (for phones etc) by making a meta-lens -- a single, flat lens with a highly detailed surface that can do the job that currently requires multiple curved lenses.

Do holograms have anything in common with surfaces like that?

If HOEs can direct light like several optical lenses combined into one, with a reflective enough surface, could holograms theoretically be used as some type of reflective (rather than refractive) lens like that for a smartphone (etc) camera? Can they reflect all wavelengths of visible light like you would need? Is anyone doing work in this area now?

There are even periscopic cameras in phones today - could we one day have a high quality camera in a slim device with one or two reflective lenses and no refractive element at all?

What's the difference like between something like LitiHolo and a machine required to make an HOE? What are the main relevant spec measures? I'm not sure if holograms have some equivalent of resolution, or similar.

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#97

Post by primitivesuave »

hologram-paul wrote: post #2

Hello again HN! 12 months ago I told you LitiHolo (I’m the founder) was working to create a 3D Hologram Printer, and asked for your input. Well, we built it! I've been involved with hologram printers all the way back to my grad school days (MIT Media Lab), and have built custom industrial versions for in-house commercial hologram work. But more recently LitiHolo has been focused on simple educational holograms kits.…

This is a super cool project and I will definitely be buying one. However, I've been burned too many times on Kickstarter hardware projects (most spectacular loss was the Lily Camera) - nowadays I just pay the premium for a guaranteed shipping date. Some companies like Glowforge actually handled multiple delivery delays quite well, and raised venture capital so they wouldn't have to touch Kickstarter funds for overhead costs.

Excited to follow your project and eventually have one sitting in my workshop!

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#98

Post by EvanAnderson »

yummypaint wrote: post #74
hologram-paul wrote: post #2

Hello again HN! 12 months ago I told you LitiHolo (I’m the founder) was working to create a 3D Hologram Printer, and asked for your input. Well, we built it! I've been involved with hologram printers all the way back to my grad school days (MIT Media Lab), and have built custom industrial versions for in-house commercial hologram work. But more recently LitiHolo has been focused on simple educational holograms kits.…

I remember once seeing a hologram of a microscope where if you put your eye in the right spot you could see the item under magnification. Would something like that be possible with this system? Another thing that comes to mind is pairing this with some kind of computational holographic camera or something using those awesome new imaging TOF range sensors. Being able to make semi-instant holographic polaroids would pr…

The (sadly closed) Museum of Holography in Chicago had a similar hologram with a telescope you could "look through". I saw it once nearly 20 years ago, but the memory is burned into my brain. I would love to see it again, if only just to have that strange feeling of my perception being twisted again.

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#99

Post by JohnHaugeland »

hologram-paul wrote: post #2

Hello again HN! 12 months ago I told you LitiHolo (I’m the founder) was working to create a 3D Hologram Printer, and asked for your input. Well, we built it! I've been involved with hologram printers all the way back to my grad school days (MIT Media Lab), and have built custom industrial versions for in-house commercial hologram work. But more recently LitiHolo has been focused on simple educational holograms kits.…

never got an answer back when i contacted you a year ago to see if this could be used for casting holograms into chocolate

Re: Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms

#100

Post by pontifier »

EvanAnderson wrote: post #98
yummypaint wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember once seeing a hologram of a microscope where if you put your eye in the right spot you could see the item under magnification. Would something like that be possible with this system? Another thing that comes to mind is pairing this with some kind of computational holographic camera or something using those awesome new imaging TOF range sensors. Being able to make semi-instant holographic polaroids would pr…

The (sadly closed) Museum of Holography in Chicago had a similar hologram with a telescope you could "look through". I saw it once nearly 20 years ago, but the memory is burned into my brain. I would love to see it again, if only just to have that strange feeling of my perception being twisted again.

Definitely a formational memory for me as well. There was a hologram gallery in a mall in Orem, Utah in the early 90's. I spent hours in there, but could never afford to buy one. I wish these were more available. I did manage to buy one about 10 years ago, but sadly it was lost in a move.

I really need to acquire a bunch for the science museum I'm going to open. Will probably need a bunch of kits as well. This is the sort of thing that can change someone's life as a child. There's no replacement for that sense of wonder.

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