Jaime Ruiz-Avila is a physicist specializing in laser science and stochastic resonance. He is currently running a successful crowdfunding campaign for the Holovect Mk II, billed as “the first commercially available, laser-based desktop 'holographic' display, capable of drawing 3D objects in the air with light.”
The campaign goes to great lengths to explain that these are not holograms, but volumetric vector images. The images are projected onto a 12 x 12 x 12 inch cube, the ‘drawbox’, and fans modify the air’s albedo within the box to show off the light. The aim of the laser is controlled along with the position of an air column to place a pixel of light anywhere in the 3D space. Moving the laser to different points creates vectors, and joining vectors in different directions creates a vector object. The Mk II can draw 50 images per second, creating the illusion of a vector object rotating in space.
Ruiz-Avila calls the objects created in the Holovects ‘vects’. The vects come from a list of 3D coordinates, and the 3D shapes are drawn as one continuous loop. The starship example in the campaign looks like the coordinate work was done using plotly. All of the models in the campaign videos show green light only, but an RGB option says that each vector can be printed in 24 bit color.
Vects can be uploaded through USB, and the page says that STL files or scan data can be visualized on the machine. However, the examples used in the campaign video are mostly science fiction related and much more simple than a CAD design of a part intended for manufacture. A software development kit is also being developed and will be available to users before the machines are released.
If the Holovect can perform as well as the video claims then there are incredible possibilities for this technology. The campaign video shows images and visuals far better than a still photo can show, and I’m hoping that seeing the device in person would give a similar visual boost. It’s worth noting that the campaign video is subtitled and when demonstrating the device a person expresses wonder at the Holovect and the caption says “chortle.” The campaign ends on Friday, November 11 and first units are planned to ship in May 2017.