Hologram Industry News

Mobile phone interfaces have been a source of debate for a while now. First there was the Palm Pilot, with its stylus, then there was the iPhone with its game changing touch screen. RIM also has had a go with the Blackberry Storm’s touch-screen. The latter provided tangible feedback, but if one goes by the reviews, it is almost a non-starter.

A recent design that features holographic technology poses yet another option and is a nice evolution of interface technology for the mobile phone segment. The Trou Hologram Mobile Phone does away with traditional mobile phone displays and instead utilizes 3D hologram projection to display images. The design, compliments of Mac Funamizu, was a submission for a future mobile design competition that asked contestants to “design the mobile phone of 2020.” The phone is just a design at this point, but recent advances in holographic technology point towards the realization of this type of interface in the next few years.
Source: http://www.psfk.com

Canada:. Description Bayer MaterialScience AG, Bayer MaterialScience LLC and Canadian-based Ultimate Holographic Reproductions Inc. (UHR) announced today that they have entered into a joint development agreement. The goal of this agreement is to advance the broad commercialization of high-quality, true-color holographic images. Bayer MaterialScience is supplying color-sensitive photopolymers that are ideal for the mass replication of the true-color master holograms produced by Ultimate Holographic Reproductions. Full-color holograms have potential uses in a broad spectrum of applications, for example in the advertising industry, the packaging and entertainment sectors, product design and the manufacture of a whole range of high-quality print products.

The new photopolymer film that Bayer MaterialScience plans to launch commercially in 2010 has several advantages over other holographic materials. For example, it is easy to process and environmentally robust. It can also be exposed by laser light in one or more colors. “The three-dimensional images that are created by UHR have high contrast, excellent color and superb image quality. What’s more, with our material, there is no need for wet chemical or heat treatment to develop the holograms after they have been exposed. ” said Jurbergs at his presentation during “Holo-pack•Holo-print” in Toronto, Canada.

Toronto, Canada, November 20, 2008; Technical excellence and innovative applications were the overarching themes of this year’s International Hologram Manufacturers Association’s (IHMA) Excellence in Holography Awards, which were presented at the conference dinner of the annual holography conference Holopack•Holo-print® in Toronto on Wednesday November 19.

The Brian Monaghan Award for Business Achievement was made to Umendra Kumar (Ukay) Gupta, the founder and CEO of Holostik India, the country’s first, largest and most diverse hologram producer. He is also one of the founders of the Hologram Manufacturers’ Association of India (HoMAI), serving as its first and current President. According to the IHMA, the Indian hologram industry owes much to his vision and energy and probably wouldn’t exist in its current vigorous form without his contribution.

The ‘Best New Holographic Product Award’ went to Liechtenstein’s U-NICA Global Security Solutions for its intraGRAM™ injection mould-embedded hologram.

Hologram Industries picked up the ‘Best New Holographic Technique Award’ for HOLO ID®, a new technique for reproducing an individual’s photo or other unique images as a photopolymer hologram on ID cards.

The ‘Best Industrial Award’ went to Sitech (Spatial Imaging Technology) for its new Fastrack™ system. A development of its Lightgate computerised origination system, , Fastrack enables dot matrix holograms to be mastered in a fraction of the time previously required, making it practical to originate very large masters and bringing the production of digital holograms in line with the fast-turnaround requirements of the print industry.

German hot stamping specialist Leonhard Kurz, together with design and origination partners OVD Kinegram, scooped the ‘Best Authentication and Security Award’ for their innovative Kinegram recolor® feature. This has been developed for use as a laminate in conjunction with a window or aperture in the banknote substrate, and provides fundamentally different, and unexpected, effects depending on whether the note is viewed from the front or reverse of the note.

A promotional hologram used by Imperial Tobacco to distinguish its Lambert & Butler brand from others won the ‘Best Promotion Award’. API Holographics and its sister company API Laminates created the new eye-catching hologram, featuring a ‘starburst’ visual effect, to ensure the Lambert & Butler brand stands out at the point-of-sale.

A holographic packaging concept developed by US firm Vacumet Corporation to ensure boxes of Hasbro’s Trivial Pursuit 25th Anniversary Edition stood out on retailers’ shelves in the crowded toys and games market was also highly commended.

A creative and production team from Toppan Printing, Hitachi Ltd and Hitachi Chemical Co Ltd walked off with the ‘Best Packaging Award’ for their innovative RFID Crystagram label. This is the world’s first combination of hologram and contactless integrated-circuit (IC) chip, and uses the aluminium of the metallised hologram as the antenna for the RFID. One facet of the hologram is that it can be demetallised, providing an intricate, customised design without any detriment to the antenna function. In addition, the Crystagram can have covert image elements, so creating a product authentication feature which combines overt, covert and traceability functions.

Organised by the IHMA, the 16th annual Excellence in Holography Awards - sponsored by industry newsletter Holography News® - recognise outstanding industry success and achievement.

The awards go to those organisations that have introduced the most innovative or commercially viable hologram product or technique over the year.

Delegates from the worldwide holography community attended this year’s presentations at the Holopack•Holo-print® conference. A display of products from the winners and runners-up was also on show at the conference, signalling the breadth and depth of the technology’s applications and commercial span.

Presenting the awards, IHMA chairman Philip Hudson said: “We have seen a record level of entries for this year’s awards.

“Innovation and quality were again to the fore and congratulations to the winners for their outstanding contribution to the holographic industry over the past year.

“They have demonstrated the highest technical expertise to design and deliver extremely effective, eye-catching and cost effective holographic solutions.”

The winners and companies that were highly commended each received as their award a handsome desk trophy in holographic glass, designed, produced and sponsored by Canadian-based creative holographic specialists Hspace.

The full list of this year’s awards and commendations for outstanding projects follows. For additional information on the projects and photos, please visit the website for the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (www.ihma.org).

LIST OF AWARDS AND COMMENDATIONS

BRIAN MONAGHAN AWARD FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION
Award: Umendra Kumar Gupta, Holostik India

SECURITY/AUTHENTICATION
Award: Leonard Kurz and OVD Kinegram for the Kinegram recolor® feature for currency
Commended: Optaglio and SFDI Czech Republic for the Czech Republic Road Tax Stamp 2009

PACKAGING
Award: Toppan Printing, Hitachi Ltd and Hitachi Chemical Co Ltd for the RFID Crystagram
Commended: Holography Industry JSC and the Smolensk Gemological Certification Center for their Certified Diamond Blister Pack ,

PROMOTION/ILLUSTRATION
Award: API Holographics, API Laminates and Imperial Tobacco for Lambert & Butler cigarette packs
Commended: Vacumet Corporation and Hasbro for the 25th anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuit

INDUSTRIAL
Award: Sitech for the Fastrack dot matrix origination system

NEW HOLOGRAPHIC PRODUCT
Award: U-NICA Global Security Solutions for the injection-moulded IntroGram
Commended: Optaglio for OVDot holographic microparticles

NEW HOLOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE
Award: Hologram Industries and Hologram Industries Research for HoloID

About IHMA: The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) - www.ihma.org - is made up of 90 of the world’s leading hologram companies. IHMA members are the leading producers and converters of holograms for banknote security, anti-counterfeiting, brand protection, packaging, graphics and other commercial applications around the world. IHMA member companies actively cooperate to maintain the highest professional, security and quality standards.

CHATSWORTH, CA–( September 30, 2008) - Provision Interactive Technologies (“Provision”), a subsidiary of Provision Holding, Inc. (OTCBB: PVHO), today announced that its new 3D Holographic display, The HL40 Classic Studio (HL40CS) debuts this week in the first MyStudio recording studio at the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale, Arizona. The new HL40 Classic Studio is the first of as many as 1,000 units which will roll out in MyStudio recording studios around the country. The MyStudio contract will generate up to $7 million in revenue from hardware sales for Provision during the next 18 months.

Provision’s HL40CS units utilize Provision’s patented Holo™ 3D technology which projects full-color, high-resolution videos into space detached from the screen. The versatile nature of the streaming videos allow for endless advertising possibilities for a variety of industries.

“We’re excited about the launch of MyStudio, with our Provision HL40CS inside, as it represents the beginning of a great product rollout across the country,” said Curt Thornton, CEO Provision Interactive. “We’re also excited because our partnership with MyStudio represented a challenge to make a unit that is as compact as possible. We delivered a high-quality product in a tight package for MyStudio. As a result, we’ve named it the HL40 CS.”

Know more about 3D Display Technology

BMW of North America is marketing the X6 as an entirely new class of vehicle. BMW is trying to catch people’s attention in a revolutionary way by utilizing hologram technology developed by the Dutch advertising firm, viZoo, a ten-foot long light-controlled area, the system will display a three-dimensional, interactive image of the X6 at four different locations in New York between April 21st and May 16th. The system is manipulated through a touch-screen mounted outside the display and allows participants to view the X6 from a variety of angles, check out the interior and get a run-down on the vehicle’s stats.
[Sources: BMW]

The use of a projector to power the primary handset display opens up the possibility of holographic displays in the future. Samsung is developing a new technology to use optical projection displays inside mobile phones, instead of LCDs. This may soon enable cellphones with 3D holographic displays. Projection technology has become miniaturized enough to fit inside a handset, and Samsung has developed a “panel type waveguide,” a new refraction technology, that can distribute the light from these tiny optical projectors evenly across a mobile phone’s display.

Projection technology has benefits over LCD or OLED display technologies because the projection display can be scaled to any desired size (presumably by altering how the light is refracted onto the display), whereas an LCD or OLED display needs to be manufactured in a predetermined size.
Sources: http://gadgets.todaynominated.com/2008/02/22/samsung-phone-with-3d-holographic-projection-display/