Show HN: LitiHolo – a desktop 3D hologram printer that makes true holograms • Hacker News Board

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

#111

Post by hologram-paul » Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 3:21 PM UTC

primitivesuave wrote: post #97

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 overhe…

Thanks! We really do want to do this the right way, and grow the hologram community long term.

Let me know if you know anyone at Glowforge that could be a guide through the process. Always good to be able to bounce things off someone who's been there.

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

#112

Post by hologram-paul » Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 3:22 PM UTC

flir wrote: post #110

hologram-paul wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are reflection holograms. Also sometimes called white-light holograms because they can be viewed with a regular spot light, sunlight, or even a smartphone flashlight.

That's cool. You should make that clear on the website, I definitely got the impression from the photos that they were in a frame.

Thanks! Will see how to highlight that better.

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

#113

Post by hologram-paul » Fri, Mar 19, 2021, 3:24 PM UTC

tinus_hn wrote: post #109

dTal wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth noting that this exists already, here and there; you can get full color, full parallax digital holograms from, at the very least, Geola [0] - though "reasonably priced" is a matter of opinion! Making it economical is pretty difficult - the issue is that "mastering" is an inherently time-consuming process; you're writing each hogel one at a time, each hogel is only a square millimeter or smaller, and you're prin…

This company can sell a machine and some plates for the price you had to charge for one plate. There’s a chance it does work with this technology.

Yes, the idea is to make this hologram technology more accessible and affordable, so that it is something you can use on a regular basis, not just a one-off occasionally.

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

#114

Post by TheRealSteel » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 9:53 AM UTC

hologram-paul wrote: post #104

TheRealSteel wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 require…

Holographic Optical Elements certainly have potential for applications like this, and the 3D Hologram Printer could be a great tool for simple prototyping and quick iterative testing. Recently, Maimone et al at Oculus/Facebook Reality Labs used our hologram film to make a design for a thinner VR headset using pancake lenses incorporating holograms: https://research.fb.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Holograph...

Interesting! One of my first thoughts was use in an AR headset, which has a particular use-case for a reflective, rather than refractive, lens.

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

#115

Post by danny-bee » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 2:59 PM UTC

why is it so pixelated, I would think I could be done better, nice for amateurs or a teaching tool but for the one that really do holograms its not anything like what can be done at http://geola.com/product/ilumogram-applications/, just my thought it will be just a novelty... words from a holographer

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

#116

Post by danny-bee » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 3:00 PM UTC

hologram-paul wrote: post #22

DivisionSol wrote: post #15

I'm on the verge of contributing to the Kickstarter, trying to get a sense of what I'm seeing: 1) http://www.litiholo.com/images/buzz-on-the-printer-crop-809x... Wondering what the artifacting is on the left side of the hologram itself? Is this a problem with this specific hologram, or will all holograms have this artifacting? 2) Same image, but I'm not quite sure Buzz is centered in the middle of the ... work plate?…

The artifact you are seeing is a test alignment hogel on these early holograms. Do not expect that in the final system. Likewise, the demo holograms had different border areas, and some with fingerprints (definitely cleanable). The film plate will need some border area. Still working on where we will be with ease of hackability. Thanks for the compliments! Hope to see you as a backer and please recommend to the maker…

why is it so pixelated, I would think I could be done better, nice for amateurs or a teaching tool but for the one that really do holograms its not anything like what can be done at http://geola.com/product/ilumogram-applications/, just my thought it will be just a novelty... words from a holographer

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

#117

Post by danny-bee » Sat, Mar 20, 2021, 3:02 PM UTC

hologram-paul wrote: post #7

KlinkEastwood wrote: post #5

The part of me that is still a kid in the 90s that thought DBZ shirts were the epitome of style is thinking this is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Holograms have a way of doing that to people! Thanks.

why is it so pixelated, I would think I could be done better, nice for amateurs or a teaching tool but for the one that really do holograms its not anything like what can be done at http://geola.com/product/ilumogram-applications/, just my thought it will be just a novelty... words from a holographer

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

#118

Post by hologram3 » Sun, Mar 21, 2021, 5:29 AM UTC

ALittleLight wrote: post #70

hologram-paul wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! The film plates are on 2mm thick glass, and the actual holographic recording layer is 16 microns, with a coversheet material over that.

I agree with the feedback of having a picture better capture the thickness of the holograph plate (or whole assembly, whatever that's called). From the Buzz Lightyear picture I got the impression that it would be something like a thick picture frame, but that doesn't match the 2mm description. Would it be possible to use these as badge photos? I feel like it would be pretty cool to have a hologram picture on your bad…

Yuri Denisyuk's original concept for wavefront reconstruction was to make a little 3D ID picture of a face, inspired by a Russian sci-fi story.

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

#119

Post by hologram-paul » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:08 PM UTC

danny-bee wrote: post #116

hologram-paul wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The artifact you are seeing is a test alignment hogel on these early holograms. Do not expect that in the final system. Likewise, the demo holograms had different border areas, and some with fingerprints (definitely cleanable). The film plate will need some border area. Still working on where we will be with ease of hackability. Thanks for the compliments! Hope to see you as a backer and please recommend to the maker…

why is it so pixelated, I would think I could be done better, nice for amateurs or a teaching tool but for the one that really do holograms its not anything like what can be done at http://geola.com/product/ilumogram-applications/ , just my thought it will be just a novelty... words from a holographer

This is our first step in providing the hologram machine itself to make your own holograms, rather than sending off to a service to make one for you. We think having this as a new tool, rather than just a service, will completely change access to hologram technology in the future, similar to what happened with 3D printing.

I appreciate your input as a holographer, and we are hoping to help create a lot more holographers in the future who will have access to their own 3D Hologram Printer.

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

#120

Post by hologram-paul » Tue, Mar 30, 2021, 4:11 PM UTC

hologram3 wrote: post #118

ALittleLight wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the feedback of having a picture better capture the thickness of the holograph plate (or whole assembly, whatever that's called). From the Buzz Lightyear picture I got the impression that it would be something like a thick picture frame, but that doesn't match the 2mm description. Would it be possible to use these as badge photos? I feel like it would be pretty cool to have a hologram picture on your bad…

Yuri Denisyuk's original concept for wavefront reconstruction was to make a little 3D ID picture of a face, inspired by a Russian sci-fi story.

Denisyuk is one of the fathers of holography (his hologram technique was one of the first to allow white-light viewable holograms, also called reflection holograms). Along with Gabor, Leith, Upatnieks, and my professor at the MIT Media Lab, Steve Benton.