Hologram Industry News

Wednesday: Created by HoMAI
Packaging is the dress code of any brand. According to wikipedia “Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging is heavily integrated into our daily lives, we see it all around us, on everyday items such as chocolate bars and potato chip (crisp) packets. The main use for packaging is protection of the goods inside, but packaging also provides us with a recognizable logo, or packaging, we instantly know what the goods are inside. If you get it right, you are sure to impress all those who matter. In this age of cut-throat competition nothing cuts through the clutter like unique packaging. Not every good packaging idea comes with a price tag. A little creative thinking is all that is needed.

Now, Welcome to the new age of holographic packaging - The art of future dressing up of brand.

It’s not often that a simple design element can be so flexible in its use and so remarkable in its effectiveness.

The impact of holography on packaging is immediate, getting the attention of your customers and moving your product off the shelf. In this era the innovative use of holographic packaging has a proven track record of increasing sales.

Brach & Brock Candy Company projected a three-fold increase in sales using holographic packaging.

“Sparkling hologram bags that practically glow on the shelf to catch shoppers’ attention.” That’s how Brach & Brock Confections describes the packaging for its new Street Sharks Gummy Candies and Batman & Robin Fruit Snacks and Gummy Candy.”

An example: Blanton Whiskey added a hologram to its bottle and this led to an instant and increased sale .

The holographic packaging provides eye catching visual impact, authentication, and added value. In reality, all products are subject to counterfeiting. Hence proper holographic packaging on consumer goods serve an important way for brand protection.

In February 1999, when Colgate-Palmolive Canada decided to enter the whitening toothpaste market for the first time, it knew it had to capture attention quickly in a lively, competitive environment … and the Colgate name alone wasn’t going to carry the day. The company hoped to win over loyal users of competitive brands, and persuade even users of its own standard toothpaste to upgrade to its new brand, “Colgate Sensation.” As a late entry into the marketplace, it was likely to be facing an uphill climb. Colgate-Palmolive’s global headquarters in New York recommended using a holographic package to break through shelf clutter, grab consumer attention and establish the presence of the new product in the market.

According to Philip Durocher Director of Marketing “ We wanted to present the public with a premium package,A package that would reflect what people think their smiles should be like–sparkling and dazzling.”

Holographic packaging films are ideal for flexible or rigid packaging. In an already crowded marketplace, the ability of a product to get noticed due to the sheer packaging is an invaluable tool to retain and increase market share. Application of holographic packaging is already extremely diverse ranging from toothpaste packaging to chewing gum wrappers. Hologram packaging includes flexible packaging, board packaging, rigid box, pack packaging etc. There are several reasons why holographic packaging is becoming crucial in today’s context. Both the ethical and OTC environments demand better, more efficient packaging. There are many reasons which improves the usage of holographic packaging.

The advantages of holographic packaging are manifold:

Inherent security of holography against counterfeit
Customer perceives higher value addition
Greater & High impact at the point of sale
Enhanced aesthetics ensuring a Premium look
“According to recently published report by PIRA hologram types and geographic markets will show the highest levels of growth and offer the most opportunities to hologram manufacturers.”

Problems of packaging terrorism and product piracy are increasing. The use of holography is a cost-effective way of countering these which, at the same time, adds to the attractiveness of the pack. ACROSS THE whole range of packaging applications, there is no more creative or secure medium than holography.

The Water Horse Water Hologram - Worlwide companies are using hologram technology to promote their films. Earlier in past films like Harry Potter etc were successfully promote by companies.

Columbia TriStar created this super-cool water-hologram to promote the release of The Water Horse. The hologram illusion uses a water screen created by a exact light projected on a carefully sprayed water jet to create a giant pseudo-3-D Loch Ness “Water Horse” monster in Tokyo Bay. Disney pioneered this technique years ago with their “Fantasmic” show at Disneyland. They now even use the effect on their Pirates of the Carribean and Indiana Jones rides.
Sources: http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/01/26/cool-stuff-holographic-water-monster-invades-japan/

Britain’s Prince Charles on Monday gave a speech at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. The only catch: he wasn’t really there. Instead, a 3-D holographic projection of the Prince, recorded last year in the United Kingdom. In a grand one-uppance, Prince Charles spoke at a conference today via Holographic Imagery. This technology, similar to that showcased in science fiction shows, was utilized to demonstrate that semi-personal presence can be accomplished without wasting a vast amount of carbons utilizing commercial transportation and instead having a virtual presence. Charles elected not to attend the conference in order to avoid producing the significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with air travel.
Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf5esT95Glw

Bergisch Gladbach, 16.01.2008 - Ten years after the first HoloProTM screen was developed and produced in Bergisch Gladbach, the time has now come for HoloProTM4. Pronova present their latest new HoloProTM4 at the Integrated Systems Europe Fair in Amsterdam. The new generation of holographic projection screens was created in the course of many years of research and development cooperation between pronova and the Cologne Technical College (Fachhochschule Köln). “The reduction of holographic optical elements to a diameter of 0.2 mm brings us into dimensions that are smaller than pixels on a computer monitor”, explains Martin Kischkoweit-Lopin, CEO of G+B pronova GmbH. The impressive result of this miniaturisation is an unprecedented richness of detail and a considerable improvement in colour neutrality, homogeneity and brilliance of projection quality. The number of HOEs was also exponentiated: in HoloProTM4, according to pronova, there are more than 200 times as many HOEs as in previous versions.

HoloPro™ is the patented solution for living projections on glass. HoloPro™ stands for “holographic projection screen“.

Sources: www.pronovagmbh.de

TOKYO, Jan 17, 2008 Dai Nippon Printing Co. (TSE:7912) will market a new hologram label that combines 3-D computer graphic images with microscopic lettering.

Branded products use hologram labels to prove their authenticity, but in recent years the technology of forgery has advanced so far that it is difficult to distinguish real hologram labels from bogus hologram labels just by looking at the 3-D CG image.

To help people identify real labels, Dai Nippon Printing will incorporate the word GENUINE in microscopic lettering into the hologram. The letters are drawn with a line width of only 50 microns and are technically difficult to print, but readily viewable using a magnifying glass.

Dai Nippon Printing will charge 5 yen apiece for orders of 2 million labels and hopes to generate revenue of 3 billion yen (US$28 million) with this business during the next three years.
Sources: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/997853/

The federal government has enlisted the help of a Switzerland-based company for a battle against counterfeit tobacco.

SICPA Product Security has been hired by the Canada Revenue Agency to help design new hidden security features such as holograms that will be mandatory on all cigarette packages and tobacco tins manufactured in or imported to Canada.

The new features will replace the current low-tech stamps that indicate federal taxes have been paid on the product - ones that counterfeiters have been able to easily duplicate.

Under a three-year contract finalized earlier this month, SICPA will be part of a joint venture with the Canadian Bank Note Company in Ottawa, which prints much of the country’s paper currency.

While the exact size of the illegal trade is hard to pinpoint, governments, police and cigarette manufacturers agree it is a major problem.

A survey released last year by the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers Council suggested one in five cigarettes smoked in Canada was contraband.
Sources: http://www.cjob.com/news/index.aspx?dir=national&src=ext&rem=./n0109107A.xml

Architect Sandro Graf von Einsiedel of Cologne, Germany, turned what could have been the banal, industrial chimneys of an inner city electricity plant into huge and vivid laminated glass ’sails’ that project multi-colored holographic images. They have now become a landmark in the city, reinforcing the corporate identity of his client in a spectacular way.

Von Einsiedel explained to LGN: “The three ventilation chimneys of the Transformer Station are made from triangular and square laminated glass panes of 1.2m x 0.9m. These panes consist of two lites of glass laminated together with a sheet of holographic film in between, held in place by slim aluminum fittings which are fixed to the outer side of a steel construction. The decorative, holographic display is entirely appropriate to the business park, dedicated to a new media such as electronic publishing, where the power station is located”.

All the colors of the rainbow

One side of the installation shows a stylized picture of an electricity bulb and the other side shows the letters GEW, the company logo of Cologne’s Gas Electricity and Waterworks municipality Architect von Einsiedel explained: “The holographic film, manufactured using a combination of computer technology and laser guns, reflects natural and artificial light and splits it up into all the colors of the rainbow. By designing pixels of 5 x 5cm with different angles of reflection, differently colored pictures are produced due either to the varying positions of the sun as it moves across the sky or as the spectator’s angle of vision moves.

Laminated glass offers protection and stability
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Technical Director at laminator Glaswerke Arnold Werk II, in Merkendorf, Germany, Christian Irmscher, told LGN: “We used laminated glass since there was no other product that could provide 100% protection of the holographic film, offer optimal viewing of the hologram and keep the application waterproof. In addition, the lamination process gave the holographic film an even and stable layout; as a result, the film cannot slide out of place. The glass panels are kept in place with a metal construction. The 5mm annealed + 2mm PVB + 5mm annealed laminated glass solution has performed extremely well and there have been no problems whatsoever since its 1996 installation.”

Groundbreaking work with HOEs

Professor Helmut Muller of ILB at Cologne’s Polytechnic, who produced the holographic films and supervised the process of glass lamination, commented: “Our holographic displays are incorporated within laminated glass which protects the film, makes it easy to handle and – apart from regular window cleaning – keeps the holographic optical element (HOE) maintenance-free. The holographic display is also UV-stable, which is important for outdoor applications.As Architect von Einsiedel summed up: “The outdoor use of sensitive holographic film in such large panels is a world premiere and was made possible only through the protection offered by laminated glass.”
Sources: http://www.dupont.com/safetyglass/lgn/stories/1007.html

CREDITZ® Introduces Digital Promotional Currency Integrated with Mobile and Digital Signage at National Retail Federation (NRF) Convention in NYC.

Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWEB) January 10, 2008 — CEO America, Inc. (OTC: CEOA.PK), exclusive US licensee of CREDITZ® Digital Currency, today announced that it will be introducing its fully-integrated promotional currency, micro-payment and loyalty system at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Annual Convention in New York City, January 13 – 16, 2008.

NRF’s annual convention is the retail industry’s premier event, bringing together global retail leaders that are shaping the future of the industry and providing a showcase for business and technology innovation.

In addition to showcasing its highly-efficient micro-payment, mobile payment and virtual terminal system, CREDITZ will be demonstrating its integration with Provision’s 3D holographic digital signage system.

This revolutionary marketing concept will demonstrate a unique, integrated promotional system that features digital content, Provision’s innovative 3D holographic display with CREDITZ promotional currency that drives increased product sales. The program will demonstrate how the Provision/CREDITZ Digital Currency in-store promotional display system a) enhances how shoppers experience in-store merchandizing, b) incentivizes purchase behavior change and c) pays consumers promotional currency for that behavior.
Sources; For complete story,: http://www.emediawire.com/releases/CREDITZ/Digital_Currency/prweb614071.htm

Prince Charles will appear as an “hologram” at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi which starts on January 21. Former US Vice-President Al Gore used similar technology to appear as a hologram at Wembley Stadium at the beginning of the Live Earth concerts earlier this year.

Charles was heavily criticised in January when he and the Duchess of Cornwall flew to Philadelphia with 12 staff to pick up an award from Mr Gore honouring him as an environmentalist.That trip created 20 tons of carbon dioxide.

Determined to keep his environmental damage to a minimum, Charles will save the 15 tons of carbon that would have been generated by flying himself and his staff 7,000 miles to the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Sources: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=502599&in_page_id=1770

New Delhi: 2 December 2007
Holograms are the best method pharma companies can used to fight against counterfeiters. According to Mr. U K Gupta, CMD of Holostik India Limited the Indian hologram business is growing at a rate of 30-35% annually and it will increase more as the counterfeiting drug industry in India is approx $ US 1 billion.
For more news, please click the link:
2-december-2007.pdf