Augmented reality (AR) is becoming increasingly more popular. For example, brands are trying to find new ways of marketing their products , doctors are using it during surgery and companies are looking to help train staff remotely. Yet all if not most of these require either glasses, phone or tablet. Hololamp is trying to change this by introducing the HoloLamp, a device that allows for hands-free, interactive AR by projecting optical 3D illusions.
VRFocus spoke with Florence Chican, co-founder of Hololamp about how they have used the HoloLamp for restaurants and architectural purposes. The HoloLamp uses Leap Motion to track individual digits and hands in order to make the projected images interactive. For example, one can make objects smaller or larger, change the visible dish or even change and alter objects such as the colour scheme of objects in a building. Other sensors map the environment, enabling the HoloLamp to warp the projected image in real-time through the use of new pico projectors, so the user sees the virtual object as real.
At the moment the HoloLamp is self-contained and portable but Chican says they plan to make it even smaller. The HoloLamp is a one-to-one experience, however Chican suggests that it would be possible to make the interactive projection available for more than one individual. At the moment additional users are able to see enough of a change that whilst filming the HoloLamp other onlookers were able to see and walk around the projection with the same effect. The HoloLamp can have any 3D assets integrated, and therefore can be used for various applications, such as education purposes – a history, physics or biology lesson, for example – when the HoloLamp is able to do more than one individual per experience.
“So far the HoloLamp works as a computer peripheral so our main goal is to embed everything into the HoloLamp,” Chican explains. What is showcased in the video is a working prototype, but it looks like the Star Wars universe hologram isn’t too far away from being a reality. The HoloLamp will be available for pre-orders soon and is coming in Q3 of 2018.
Watch the video below to find out more.
via Mint VR