Commercial Displays

Timesharing Display Case

One of the lesser understood and totally underutilized features of holography is its ability to turn on and off: "now you see it...now you don't." When a holographic image is illuminated by a suitable light source (it can be a laser, a halogen bulb, sunlight, etc) it diffracts light and the viewer standing within its viewing cone sees a 3-dimensional image. When that same light source is removed, the viewer sees a transparent piece of glass and nothing more.

We have utilized this feature of holography in creating display cases which feature holographic timesharing. By combining a holographic image in front and a real product (or 2-D graphic) behind -- through the use of two oscillating lights (one directed to the holograph and one to the product), we can switch the viewer's attention from front to back -- from virtuality to reality. We call this effect endorsement enforcement, and it opens the window to an exciting new generation of retail display products.

Using this principle allows designers to work in several very different market areas:

• Retail Display Cases (timesharing between a holographic endorsement and a real product)
• Tradeshow Displays (tying the intended user to the product or service)
• Vivariums (stand-ins for the reptiles that are seldom cooperative)
• Aquariums (backwalls that add magic to commercial aquariums with halogen or laser illumination)
• Trophy Cases (the trophy inside; team members on the outside)

Timesharing answers the question,"What can holography do that other imaging techniques can't?" By introducing a multi-colored product along with the single colored holograph -- we leave the viewer with a multi-colored message that cloaks one of the foremost complaints from product manager types regarding the monochromatic nature of our images.