Everyone has these kinds of people on their Facebook or Instagram feed: New parents. These guys are always flooding your feed with ultrasound screen captures, pics of how big momma’s belly is growing, and of course, the newborn and his or her early years. Cute? Sure, but borrrring. Call me snarky, but once you’ve seen one baby, you’ve seen them all – but we’ll bet you’ve never seen one in a 3D hologram rendition.
It’s not quite as lively as Hologram Tupac, but it’s close. Pioneer has announced a new printing service that can produce holographic photos from a computer-generated 3D model instead of photographing an actual object. By cutting the need to snap pics of a physical item, this makes it possible for the service to print ultrasound photos. The process also uses a special film, Bayfol HX, so the hologram can be seen from within a 23 degree viewing angle. The photo measures 200 components high and 300 wide, with each component containing 60 points of view.
“This method works by shining light containing information about the object from one side of the recording material, and reference light from the other side, and recording the state of interference between the two light sources in the material,” Pioneer’s Yoshinao Ito describes. “A hologram is created by regularly arranging the recordings on the medium.”
Ito also says it’s a great way for parents to capture photos of their children in a way that’s never been done before – making it novel for baby shower invitations or cards to send to family and friends. Amazing, but admittedly pretty creepy.
It all sounds complicated, but probably not any more difficult than teaching your unborn baby how to smile for the camera and prepare itself for being born into the selfie generation. Say cheese!