Star Wars-like holographic TV is coming
BBC tests display it says will bring its shows to life
Ever since Princess Leia and other members of the resistance were shown staring at projection of the Death Star in Star Wars, most viewers have dreamed of watching television on a holographic display.
Now the BBC has revealed it has been conducting experiments that may finally make that a reality.
It has built an experimental prototype that produces ' floating' holographic images above a flat screen.
By tweaking some of its archive footage, the corporation has been able to create a hologram- type effect of its iconic BBC globes, beating hearts and computer generated dinosaurs.
Cyrus Saihan, head of digital partnerships at the BBC, said the project was initially aimed at finding out whether holographic effects could be used to watch TV.
He said: 'We wanted to see if holographic effects could be used to bring our TV footage to life and whether in the future audiences might be attracted to the concept of a holographic TV.'
The team built their holographic display with a flat screen television laid flat onto which they placed a pyramid made from transparent acrylic plastic.
Working with specialists MDH Hologram, they created footage that would repeat the same image four times on the screen so it would then be reflected onto the pyramid.
This created the illusion of a holographic image hovering above the flat surface.
Tests at New Broadcasting House in London showed the images did appear to be holographic, but were also slightly fuzzy in their quality.
Mr Saihan said: 'Our experiment was fairly simple but with new technologies on the horizon such as augmented reality, mixed reality and virtual reality there is a chance holographic TVs could become a feature of living rooms in the future.'
The team also showed their device to a few members of the public who were on a tour of the building and gave it a mixed response.
One said it looked better from further away than close up but another said it made them feel engaged with the image.
Mr Saihan said: ' There are limitations with our experimental device - only certain types of footage will work, you need a fairly low level of light in the room to get the maximum impact and the viewing angles are narrow.
' The physics of the light reflecting off the pyramid and the TV's screen size also means that there will always be a practical limit to the size of a display such as this.
'However, this wasn't an exercise to test how well this specific prototype performed, it was intended to give us a good approximation as to what BBC content would look like on a 'holographic' TV, get an insight into what audiences thought of it and give us a cheap way to explore floating images in the real world.
' You can imagine a world where instead of watching a film star being interviewed on the sofa of a TV chat show, they feel as if they are sitting right next to you on your own sofa in your living room, or where instead of looking at a 2D image of Mount Everest, it appears as if the snow on the mountain top is falling around you.'
(C) Daily Mail, London