AUTOMAN

Glen Larson created the TV series, 'Automan' first went on air between December 1983 and April 1984. The 13 episodes including the pilot, averaged 13.5% households ratings and 20% audience share up against 'Magnum, p.i.' which attracted 22.4% households ratings and 34% audience share. Automan was regarded a symbol of the computer age. Desi Arnaz, Jr. played the computer expert who brought Automan, a computer-generated hologram (or three dimensional (3D) images) into the real world. 

Associated Press reported, "All of the special effects that light up Automan, the cursor that precedes him and his special car, are done live. A beam-splitter attached to the camera causes light-reactive pieces of cloth and adhesive to appear to glow." Desi Arnaz, Jr. as Walter Nebicher insisted, "They're ('Automan' and 'Tron') are not really the same. This is more real life, taking it into real situations. 'Tron' took place inside the computer. And this is a comedy and 'Tron' wasn't a comedy. Besides, we have some special effects that are more recent than 'Tron'. This is like a 'new frontier' in filmmaking. The nature of the live special effects is unique. It's very exciting." Viewers were told, "A hologram, when perfected can be made to look, sound and feel real. It's an electronic simulation in 3 dimensions." 

'The Conversation' reported in 2013, "Three dimensional holographic images and floating displays outside a screen have long been a favorite of science fiction movies such as the rescue message carried by R2-D2 in 'Star Wars'. The success of James Cameron's 3D movie 'Avatar' caused a tremendous worldwide interest in flexible, high-definition and floating display devices. 

"In fact, the dream of optically displaying a 3D object has been constantly driving the revolution of display technologies over the past decade. At the moment most 3D imagery is only seen with the aid of special glasses. But the revenue generated by this 3D technology market in 2013 exceeded US$93.21 billion (almost double the global solar market), and is expected to grow up to US$279.27 billion by 2018." 

In February 2017, Jamie Condliffe of 'MIT Technology Review' reported, "A bright-green laser flashes on, shining into a petri dish full of goo. From nowhere, the shape of a paper clip emerges - ghostly at first, then solid. Five seconds later the clip is fished out, cleaned up, and ready for use. The basic principle here is an established 3D-printing technique that uses lasers to cure a light-activated monomer into solid plastic. 

"But unlike other approaches, which scan a laser back and forth to create shapes one layer at a time, this system does it all at once using a 3D light field - in other words, a hologram. It could make 3D printing far faster. At the heart of the device that printed the paper clip is a holographic chip developed by Daqri, a startup that designs and builds augmented-reality devices out of laboratories in San Francisco and in Milton Keynes, U.K. The company makes smart glasses similar to Microsoft’s HoloLens and head-up displays for cars; the latter have been fitted to over 150,000 vehicles made by Jaguar Land Rover." 

In May 2017, 'PR Newswire' reported, "Holographic Imaging Market is poised to cross US$3 billion by 2024; according to a new research study published by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increasing adoption of holographic imaging in medical education should drive the holographic imaging market size over the forecast years. Medical practitioners and students are widely using holographic techniques to effectively study the human body, since the technology provides surgeons with a detailed view of patient anatomy without cutting into the body.

"Emergence of 3D holographic imaging has revolutionized the medical imaging and surgery. The technology converts the given two dimensional MRI and CT scan imaging data into interactive virtual reality images. Using these images doctors can dissect, view and manipulate the body organs in any plane required. The 3D holographic imaging should also become more affordable and integral in medical education in coming 7 to 10 years." 

'PTI News' reported in May 2017, "Scientists have created the world's thinnest hologram that can be seen without 3D goggles and may be integrated into everyday electronics such as smartphones, computers and TVs. Interactive 3D holograms are a staple of science fiction - from 'Star Wars' to 'Avatar' - but the challenge for scientists trying to turn them into reality is developing holograms that are thin enough to work with modern electronics. Now, researchers led by RMIT University in Australia have designed a nano-hologram that is simple to make, can be seen without 3D goggles and is 1,000 times thinner than a human hair."

Min Gu, the Professor at RMIT told 'PTI News', "Conventional computer-generated holograms are too big for electronic devices but our ultrathin hologram overcomes those size barriers. Our nano-hologram is also fabricated using a simple and fast direct laser writing system, which makes our design suitable for large-scale uses and mass manufacture. From medical diagnostics to education, data storage, defense and cyber security, 3D holography has the potential to transform a range of industries and this research brings that revolution one critical step closer." 

'PTI News' understood, "Conventional holograms modulate the phase of light to give the illusion of three-dimensional depth. However, to generate enough phase shifts, those holograms need to be at the thickness of optical wavelengths. The RMIT team, working with the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) in China, has broken this thickness limit with a 25 nanometre hologram based on a topological insulator material - a novel quantum material that holds the low refractive index in the surface layer but the ultrahigh refractive index in the bulk. The topological insulator thin film acts as an intrinsic optical resonant cavity, which can enhance the phase shifts for holographic imaging."

Zengyi Yue co-authored the research paper published in 'Nature Communications' told 'PTI News', "The next stage for this research will be developing a rigid thin film that could be laid onto an LCD screen to enable 3D holographic display. This involves shrinking our nano-hologram's pixel size, making it at least 10 times smaller. But beyond that, we are looking to create flexible and elastic thin films that could be used on a whole range of surfaces, opening up the horizons of holographic applications."