Why a ‘Hologram Revolution’ Could Be on the Way
At this zoo, visitors dodge stampeding elephants, peer into the gaping jaws of a hippopotamus, and pat friendly giraffes.
Such thrills are possible at Australia’s Hologram Zoo, which opened earlier this year and features 50 lifelike displays from dinosaurs to gorillas crafted from lasers.
Its creator says it’s the world’s most futuristic animal theme park, using technology that has never been used anywhere else.
“There’s lots of laughing, lots of screaming… but when the 30-metre whale goes by, for some reason, everyone goes silent like they are in awe and reverence of such a magnificent creature,” explains Bruce Dell, the chief executive of Axiom Holographics and creator of Hologram Zoo.
It is digital trickery, hoodwinking the brain into seeing something that isn’t really there.
“You are projecting an object in the air that appears to be real because, as you walk around it you are seeing it from all sorts of different angles. So, you use laser light, and we project these objects into the air,” he tells the BBC.
“The animals come into the room; they walk through the tunnel, and you pat them just like in the movies. You’re seeing an animal made of light in front of you. You’ll go out and reach out your hand and pat a lion.”
It is digital trickery, hoodwinking the brain into seeing something that isn’t really there.
“You are projecting an object in the air that appears to be real because, as you walk around it, you are seeing it from all sorts of different angles. So, you use laser light, and we project these objects into the air,” he tells the BBC.
“The animals come into the room; they walk through the tunnel, and you pat them just like in the movies. You’re seeing an animal made of light in front of you. You’ll go out and reach out your hand and pat a lion.”
The hologram show uses a new “depth” technology that makes the animals seem big. The moving images are brought to life by a laser projector containing crystals that let simple sunglasses worn by guests separate fields of light.
Crucially, there’s a device that knows where everyone in the room is, creating a tailored virtual experience. The hologram shows also come with sensory technology, allowing visitors to smell the flowers and trees.
The technology that illuminates Axiom’s theme park in suburban Brisbane is shining elsewhere. Bruce Dell tells the BBC that his company has contracts with aerospace giant Airbus and US corporation Honeywell, as well as building a hologram aquarium for a luxury hotel owned by Bill Gates in the Maldives.
The founder of the Hologram Zoo says he’s rethinking the industry by cutting costs and enhancing quality by making components at a purpose-built factory in the Australian state of Queensland.
“Everyone is expecting the hologram revolution. It is something we see in science fiction, and we should have had it by now. But holograms have always been so expensive. We felt there were some things to do there to make them a lot cheaper,” Mr. Dell explains.
“Holograms normally take tremendous amounts of computing power. You’ll normally have 10 computers hooked together to do them. Because of our good understanding of how computer memory management works, we’ve been able to make algorithms that reduce holograms down to just one computer.”
In Canberra, another race towards reimagining the concepts of holography is well underway. Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) say they’re disrupting ancient laws of physics that use lenses and mirrors to spread light.
The ANU team is experimenting with meta-optics, or nano-photonics. When light beams pass over tiny meta surfaces, which are just millimetres in size, they can manipulate the wave, similar to a traditional lens, but at a much smaller scale.
