[This Design TAXI story about a new funded Kickstarter product from holographic display company Looking Glass describes what sounds like a step forward in the creation of accessible, multifaceted presence experiences. See the original story for more images, animated gifs and the company’s 2:31 minute promotional video (also available on YouTube). See the product’s Kickstarter page for more information, and for a more objective take see coverage in The Verge. –Matthew]
You Can Now Make Little Portable Hologram Friends And Talk To Them Too
By Mikelle Leo
December 6, 2023
If only you had a friend to talk to at the drop of a hat. Oh, but there is—and they may be literally right under your nose. The Looking Glass Go is the world’s first portable holographic display, and it serves as a pocket-sized portal to a world of spatial memories. With generative artificial intelligence, it can interact with you, too.
The Looking Glass Go stands out with its six-inch display, thinner than most smartphones. Unlike many holographic devices out there, it offers a standalone multi-viewer 3D experience, requiring no special glasses, headsets, or eye tracking. Its creators note that peeling off those layers enables holograms to be more accessible and integrated into our daily lives.
The Go represents years of relentless work at Looking Glass, driven by a mission to bring the sci-fi dreams of holograms into reality. “We’ve wanted to create the science-fiction future we’d all been promised in Back to the Future, Big Hero 6, Iron Man, Black Panther, and Star Wars,” explains the company. “Now, after shipping tens of thousands of the world’s first generation of holographic displays, we’ve come up with something that will finally bring holograms to everyone.”
Any 2D photo can transform into a spatial hologram, viewable in stunning depth and detail. The Go’s algorithm conjures multiple perspectives, turning simple photos into multidimensional experiences. Through its blocks.glass platform, photos are instantly uplifted into 3D holograms and wirelessly sent to the Go.
With its advanced superstereoscopic optics, the Go generates holograms that seem to float beyond the device, viewable by multiple people simultaneously. This feature elevates 2D photos, images, and videos into dynamic 3D holograms, supporting content from advanced spatial photo generators like Luma AI and 3D spatial art tools.
Now, here’s where things are truly elevated to the next dimension. Integrated with the Looking Glass Go is the Liteforms app, which allows users to interact with AI-powered 3D characters generated from a single photo.
You can then infuse these companions with unique voices and personalities powered by ChatGPT and other large language models.
With the compatible MakeAvatar app, the device even delves into anime character customization.
For the tech-inclined, the Looking Glass Go is a flexible canvas. It supports various creative platforms, including Unity, Unreal Engine 5, Blender, and WebXR. And for photography enthusiasts, it enables capturing moments in every angle using advanced spatial photography techniques.
The device can run for hours on an optional battery, or indefinitely when connected to a PC or Mac via USB-C. Plus, with its Wi-Fi capabilities, it can receive new holograms from the cloud, allowing users to create and browse holograms without a direct computer connection.
Kickstarted at an initial price of US$199, the Looking Glass Go has been a resounding success, achieving 558% of its funding goal. The innovation is set to ship by June 2024, marking a significant milestone in bringing the once-imagined future of holograms to the present day.