Hologram Industry News

Photopolymer holograms are set to be the most disruptive technology to impact on the security printing industry, according to a new Pira International study. “Ten-Year Forecast of Disruptive Technologies in Security Printing” identifies innovations that will have an impact in a way that is discernibly disruptive, as opposed to technolo­gies that simply bring about incremental changes within the security print industry.
Based on extensive primary research and expert feedback from a panel of senior executives across the security industry, the study identifies the top 25 most signifi­cant technologies with respect to their disruptive potential and their likely evolution over the next 10 years.
For more information, visit http://www.pira-international.com

OULU, Finland, Aug. 24, 2010 – Intel Corporation, Nokia and the University of Oulu officially opened the Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center today. It will employ about two dozen R&D professionals and become the latest member of Intel’s European Research Network, Intel Labs Europe.

Initially the lab will conduct research for new and compelling mobile user experiences that could leverage the rapidly increasing capabilities of mobile devices. Creating interfaces that are more similar to interactions in the real world can enable experiences that are more natural and intuitive, in the same way that modern games and movies are more immersive through the use of realistic 3-D graphics.

The new lab is well aligned with the MeeGo open source platform recently launched by Intel and Nokia. MeeGo provides the greatest flexibility for developing new 3-D experiences on mobile devices as much of the lab’s research activity will also be open source.

“The University of Oulu’s focus on future telecommunications solutions as well as electronics and photonics made it the perfect location for the Intel and Nokia Joint Innovation Center,” says Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer and director of Intel Labs.

Another potential area of research could look into technologies that allow displaying a 3-D hologram of the person you are talking to on the phone, a capability only found in science fiction movies today. Consumers will feel more involved and engaged with their mobile experience than with current methods.
For more news, visit

Mother Dairy has changed the packaging of its popular selling product – ghee. The new pack bears a contemporary look and reflects the changing Indian mindsets and lifestyle.

“Over the years, Mother Dairy, known for its long standing relationship with its consumers has been continuously fulfilling their demands in different parts of the country through a diverse range of quality products. To meet the changing needs of the Indian consumers, Mother Dairy endeavors to continuously innovate to introduce new products and better packaging. It is with the aim of keeping the ghee quality intact for the consumer to savour and enjoy the rich flavor and aroma, we are re-packaging it in superior style and design. It has been modified to give it a more contemporary look and feel”, says Dinesh Agrawal, COO-Dhara Division, Mother Dairy Fruits & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd.

The new pack incorporates design elements like printed and pasted inside liner, embossed Mother Dairy logo, Mother Dairy watermark on the blue background and a hologram, making the design less susceptible to imitation. Mother Dairy ghee is available in 500 ml and 1 ltr SKU in all major markets.

Holostik India, the Founder Member of HOMAI and a premier producer of holograms for a wide range of security applications, has installed an Omega Digicon Series 2 converting line from UK label converting equipment manufacturer AB Graphic. Founded in 1991, Holostik India has 13 locations in the region and the label converting line has been placed at the company’s Radrapur, Northern India facility.
The system was supplied through local distributor Creed Engineering and is complemented by a Fleyevision inspection system, SR 330 inspection rewinder and Digicoat treatment unit, all manufactured by AB Graphic.

Recently on June 5, 2010, Google celebrated 110th Birthday of Dennis Gabor, a British-Hungarian electrical engineer and inventor with an impressive makeover of its logo on its search site. Gabor was an imminent scientist who is known for inventing holography and this work of his later led him to receive the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Dr. Dennis Gabor was born in Budapest on 5 June 1900, and died in London on 9 February 1979. The scientist is known for its various contributions in the field of science and technology. Also a prominent inventor he is tribute with a remembrance such that the Hungarian Academy of Sciences presents award on his name to young scientists.

Read the Tribute: Tribute to Dr. Dennis Gabor - The Father of Holography

Shillong: Introduction of Hologram in “Indian Manufactured Foreign Liquor” (IMFL) bottles would help the state government to achieve a target of generating Rs 100 crore revenue by March 2011.

Read complete news: hologram-on-imfl.pdf

The trade body (International Hologram Manufacturers Association, IHMA) representing the global hologram industry has welcomed a new finding which reaffirms the hologram’s position as a pre-eminent security feature for banknotes. The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) says that more than half of the people (55%) surveyed by The Dutch National Bank recognised holograms as an effective visual security device for banknotes, despite the introduction of other anti counterfeiting technologies.

Holograms scored ahead of features like iridescent strips (2%) and colour changing inks (3%) in the survey, which examined people’s recall of banknote security features.

Ian Lancaster, IHMA general secretary, said: “The findings are welcome news as they support the fact that holography continues to be a highly effective, highly flexible weapon in the ongoing battle to thwart banknote counterfeiters and fraudsters.

“People are still reassured by the presence of holograms on banknotes and recognise the benefits they provide.

“Clearly, holography continues to hold a vital place in currency security while at the same time we are seeing strong interest from banks and central governments for new ways for this versatile and durable technology to be used.”

The annual global volume of banknotes produced is more than 125 billion*, so the reward for hologram producers capable of providing the technology to overcome the technical challenges is potentially highly lucrative

Projections suggest the market for banknote holograms will be worth $205 million in 2010, which is 36% increase on the 2007 figure – an average of 7% per annum.

The IHMA believes the future will be largely determined by the ability of new forms of optically variable technologies to displace holograms as an effective yet low cost authentication device but other factors are in play too, including their continuing use on existing notes despite the emergence of competing technologies.

Here, the capacity for holography to hold its own against other technologies will depend on pushing the boundaries of innovation even further. For example, its ability to display effects on either side of the note through windows or threads will be a useful benefit.

The biggest opportunity will come through growth in the overall usage of banknotes as larger issuing authorities either adopt holograms for the first time or extend their use to further denominations.

Countries like India, where the focus in recent years has been meeting the demand for clean banknotes for a rapidly expanding economy, also offers opportunities.

Shillong: Comissioner of Excise has fixed May 15, 2010 for the implementation of holograms in all the liquor bottles being sold in the state, to check the leakage of revenue.

The step was come after Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister, incharge of Finance, Dr Mukul Sangma, had recently proposed to introduce holograms in the state, to check leakage of revenue during his presentation of Budget for 2010-11. This step will help state government in generating additional revenue of Rs 10 crore annually.

Globally, holograms are used as they are highly versatile. They can be applied cost-effective to a wide variety of substrates and products as part of conventional printing, packaging and labelling processes. And while they are essentially overt features that can be recognised and verified by the common man (public). As of 2007, more than 27 countries (46% of total using tax stamp) are using on their liquor stamps.

Source: www.taxstampforum.com / Meghalaya Times

In the current global markets, to fight the problem of tobacco counterfeiting, holographic tax stamps are widely used for authentication worldwide. Holograms are security devices that have effects which cannot be exactly replicated by normal reprographics methods. Expensive and high-tech hologram printers print holograms directly on cigarette packets. As per Reconnaissance international, UK globally, an estimated 124 billion tax stamps are issued annually for cigarettes out of which 60 billion features a hologram. As of 2007, 68 countries were using tax stamps for cigarettes, of these 20 used hologram on their cigarette stamps which is 29% of the total. The strategy is to increase the sale of products by using innovative packaging, giving unique look, increasing brand identity as well as to secure the product from counterfeiters.
For complete article, download high-tech-hologram.pdf

The findings of the Lebanon report are that patented medicines contribute 74.8% of the prescription drug market and 67% of the total pharmaceutical sector. Although generic drugs continue to feature as a small proportion of all pharmaceutical spending, their proportion of the prescription market will rise from 25.2% in 2009 to 30.3% by 2014.
Pharmaceutical industry representatives in Lebanon have announced that drug packaging needs to be redesigned to enable easy confirmation of product authenticity. The move is part of an effort to address the counterfeit medicines that are on the rise. The Order of Pharmacists (OOP) in Lebanon has stated that drug packaging can easily be forged and that new hologram or high-tech identification tags are to be added to medicine labels to make fakes easier to detect. Public enlightenment campaigns have also been underlined as one of the strategies that will deter further purchases and lower demand for these drugs.
The association is also suggesting that testing laboratories should also be established to ensure that seizures or closures of suspected illegal outlets can be supported with evidence. Imports could also be tested for bioequivalence in this manner, alleviating the reliance on US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- or European Medicines Agency (EMEA)-derived medicines to ensure product safety.
Source: www.companiesandmarkets.com