The future of personal holographic displays looks bright.
Looking Glass Factory, purveyor of holographic light field display technology such as the Looking Glass Portrait and Looking Glass Pro, this week unveiled a new cloud-based service capable of transforming conventional 2D photos into 3D holographic images in a matter of seconds; no programming or 3D modeling experience required.
Available this Spring, the service uses proprietary machine-learning technology to generate a “synthetic high-quality depth map” of any 2D photo, regardless of what device it was captured on; be it a standard smartphone or professional DSLR. You can even grab existing pictures from the internet, comic books, and photo books; the possibilities are seemingly endless. Bring an old family photo to life or immortalize an epic moment from your favorite graphic novel.
When viewed on one of Looking Glass Factory’s 3D displays, such as the Looking Glass Portrait, these once flat images appear as rich 3D holograms. All you need to do is upload converted images to HoloPlay Studio, the companies editing software, and import the final product to a Looking Glass device.
“The idea that any 2D photo could be transformed into a holographic image is something that’s been discussed in research groups for years, but there’s never been a service that non-technical folks could use to actually access this sort of capability. That’s why I’m so excited about this announcement,” said Shawn Frayne, CEO of Looking Glass Factory, in an official release.
“Now extremely realistic holographic memories of all sorts can be created and enjoyed by more people than ever before, getting us one step closer to a world in which we’re creating in, communicating with, and reliving our memories through holograms.”
Looking Glass Factory’s cloud-based service launches this Spring. Prices begin at $20 per 100 photo conversions. Those who back the Looking Glass Portrait campaign on Kickstarter can earn an additional 20 photo conversions for free. The Looking Glass Portrait, the companies first consumer-friendly desktop display—will begin shipping to early backers April 2021. With eight days left in the campaign, Looking Glass Factory is sitting well above its initial goal of $50,000; at the time of this writing the Kickstarter has generated an astounding $2,262,399 in funding.
For more information be sure to check out tomorrow’s online event, “Secrets of the Looking Glass Revealed: This Time It’s Personal,” during which Looking Glass Factory CEO Shawn Frayne will discuss the latest company developments. The conversation kicks off at 9:00 AM PT.
Image Credit: Looking Glass Factory
