P3D Re: Holographic (video) portraits - Flocks

["Xal razutis" <razutis@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hybrid forms of holography (incorporating film or video, analog or digital) 
have been around since the 70's (film - the 'multiplex' hologram) and 80's 
(video). They are not a 'secret' and their various designs have been amply 
documented in SPIE archives (papers) over the years.

The film model (pioneered by Lloyd Cross in S.F.) used a large turntable for 
the subject and a motion-picture camera taking frames of the rotating 
subject. Later models utilized a stationary subject and a camera on a track. 
The individual frames were re-printed, via specially developed optical 
printer, cylindrical lens, and laser illumination (the holographic part)to 
create a vertical 'strip' on the recording film (cyliner) of each frame of 
the roation.  These multiplex holograms (with tiny human subjects floating 
inside) were widely distributed (and also featured in the Hollywood film 
'Logan's Run').

Subsequently, technology was developed (in the 80's) to record a similar set 
up using video. The trick was to play the video frames back via a LCD screen 
and a moving vertical-slit aperture printer (again the holographic part) 
recording on dichromate-gelatin emulsion or photopolymer.

The 'secret' is probably in the low retail price ($5) and further 
embelishments using higher-resolution and higher-contrast LCD screens and 
digital recording technology.  However, this process and results (as 
described by Flocks) suggest refinement of already known procedures and not 
necessarily a stand-alone innovation.

By 'hybrid' I am refering to the combination of holography and other 
recording/playback processes.  (In this case, I would assume that the 
substrate used for the final product would be a photopolymer, though that is 
speculative on my part.)

In recording 3d video documentation of holography (in my earlier pieces) I 
also found an interesting 'hybrid' - combining stereoscopic 3D video with 
holographic subjects.  The result: a stereoscopic depiction of a holographic 
(spatial) image conveyed now by other means.

Similarly, computer generated imagery when combined with live-action (as in 
the recent 'The Magic Box' - Siegfried and Roy) are able to transcend the 
limitations of each (contributing medium). That's what makes hybrids so 
interesting.....



Al Razutis
Visual Alchemy
e-mail: razutis@xxxxxxxxxxx
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avant-garde film - 3D-video - holography




>From: "Franklin J. Flocks" <fjf@xxxxxxxxxx>
>>        I visited the new Sony Metreon theater complex in San
>        Francisco, yesterday, where for $5.00 you can get a miniature
>        moving holographic portrait made of yourself. >
(snip)
>        I have seen this type of technology in the past made with
>        conventional film. - But it was always very expensive.  I am
>        amazed that Sony found a way to do it with computers. What
>        kind of a printer could they be using?  I asked for details
>        about the process, but the operator said it was all secret.
>
>
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