There is a new technology that can deliver video in 3-D. It does so using holograms. The first people using this technology was the military to record enemy territory, but it can take an entire day refreshing each frame of the video. Then, Arizona researchers found away to lower it to four minutes in 2008. Now, they've cut the time to just two seconds. The Arizona researchers estimate that holographic TV may be coming in seven to ten years. How this works is very complicated. First, 16 cameras snap pictures from different angles and are then processed by a desktop PC into hogels, holographic pixels. These are then sent electronically to another location where they are transformed into an optical signal. Then, they are transmitted by a laser onto the back side of a plastic screen. The laser hits the plastic, and it undergoes chemical reactions that temporarily record the most recent set of images in the data stream.
This is an example of hypothesis-based science because the scientists set up an idea, tried it many times, developed it and now have a good time, but still developing it. This invention will help humans communicate better. For example, families will be able to see their relatives anywhere; whether they're at war, in foreign countries, or a couple houses away.
Marissa Cevallos, On the horizon: Holographic Skype, Science News, December 4, 2010, pg. 8
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