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Comment by icelancer | Hacker News Reader

HN title: "Holograms are here"

Actual title: "Better than a hologram: BYU study produces 3D images that float in 'thin air'"

Article text: "First things, first, Smalley says. The image of Princess Leia is not what people think it is: It’s not a hologram."

Can we not editorialize and/or get the titles completely wrong?

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Yes, that title broke the HN guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. We've replaced it with the article title, or rather a less baity substring of it.

It's actually a hologram - which is by definition a 3D image. I contend that my original title is appropriate. Holograms ARE volumetric displays. I can see why the researcher wouldn't want to call it that - claim you invented something better than science fiction = instant media coverage.

hol·o·gram noun A three-dimensional image formed by the interference of light beams from a laser or other coherent light source.

As indicated by your definition, the 3d-effect of a hologram arises from interference of a coherent light source. In the display that is shown in the video, the 3d-effect arises from light-emission (scattering) of a point source that moves around. The light from the point source need not be coherent for this display to work! Therefore, the term "hologram" seems inappropriate.

I have never seen a hologram that is also a volumetric display. To me, this would be the holy grail of hologramming, since you could use interference for occlusion effects.

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