The Princess Leia Project
Most people, Star Wars fans or not, are at least familiar with the part in the first Star Wars movie where R2D2 beams a tiny Princess Leia to Luke Skywalker asking for Obi Wan Kenobi’s help. I know it’s one of my favorite scenes. What people may not know, however, is that the image is actually a 3D image projection and not a hologram.
Daniel Smalley, BYU electrical and computer engineering professor, holography expert, and science fiction fan is determined to bring that type of 3D image projection to life. His research project with the goal of making this happen is referred to, fittingly, as the Princess Leia Project.
A holograph only scatters light at a 2D surface, so you won’t see a 3D image if you’re not looking directly at that surface. But a volumetric display contains multiple scattering surfaces throughout the same 3D space that’s occupied by the image.
According to Smalley, the simplest way of understanding their project is to think of the images as objects 3D printed at extremely high speeds, with the tiny glowing particle making a visual image as it moves.
In addition, the innovative 3D technology could one day even have applications in the aviation and medical fields.
To learn more about this fascinating project – click here!
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