Understanding Holograms
From Lasers to Light Fields

When and Where:

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“Understanding Holograms  - October/November 2024 - from Lasers to Light Fields” is an online course beginning Monday, October 7th , 2024. This 6-session course (3 hours per session on ZOOM) will be held on Mondays at Noon EDT to enable students from most parts of the world to be able to attend. Sessions will also be recorded and available shortly after the session ends for those who can’t join at that time slot. Additional material will become available online on the day of each class at ruzuku.com. You will also be able to network with each other on Ruzuku where further questions can be asked.

 

Fee:

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There is an early bird discount of $50 for those who sign up before September 10th.

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The full course fee is $450.

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Use the buttons at the top of the page to register for the course.

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What you will learn​:

 

This course will teach you about the many kinds of holograms (and about many images described as holograms but which aren't) and prepare you for the coming revolution in Digital Holograms. Optical Holograms (which require lasers to create them) have been with us for nearly 60 years, but it has taken until now for the technology to evolve to the point where digital holographic displays are practical.

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Optical Holograms have also evolved and the creative process of making your own holograms is now much more accessible. Using photopolymer films which are self-developing we no longer have to use harsh chemicals and simple single-beam holographic setups are much more forgiving of the conditions needed to be able to shoot them. Artists no longer have to build large systems in basements and the costs for lasers and optical components are much less than in the past.

 

We are at the beginning of a new era of holographic imaging and this course is designed to educate you about what is already here and to prepare you for what is to come.​

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Course Instructor

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The instructor for this course is Linda Law, a Holographic and Digital artist involved in Holography since 1975 - in Holographic Research, Fine Art, curating exhibitions of Holograms, teaching classes, and writing about this astonishing medium. Her early days in research at the NY Institute of Technology (where she was the assistant director of the Center for Optics, Lasers, and Holography) exposed her to the cutting-edge of Computer Graphics Research at NYIT’s Computer Graphics Lab, and began a journey toward creating Digital Holograms. These days she is still pushing the envelope as Executive Director of the Center for the Holographic Arts (HoloCenter) and as the Founder of the Virtual Museum of Holography (VMOH) which is a project of the HoloCenter. Check out the HoloCenter gallery in Kingston, NY at 518 Broadway, Kingston and our website at www.holocenter.org.

 

It has taken over 35 years for the technology to reach the point where computers are powerful and fast enough to handle the vast amounts of data processing and transfer that this requires. The internet has changed dramatically since those early days and now - finally - new displays have reached a high enough resolution and developments in Light Field Technology have made it possible to present dimensional, full-color, moving images without goggles or glasses.

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Course Content

 

This course will educate you about the history of Holography since the very beginning with Dr. Dennis Gabor in 1947. It will ground you in the many types of holograms and what it takes to produce them - Optical Holography is alive and well, artists are working in the medium, new facilities are coming online where you can have hands-on experience making holograms, the HoloCenter is making it possible to see exhibitions of holograms. Understanding the creative possibilities of Optical Holograms will give you a foundation for creating content as we shift into this new digital form of Holography.

 

We will also take a deep look at what is not holography. There is much misinformation out there on the internet from companies that purport to have holograms but are really using old 2D technology (Pepper’s Ghost) dressed up with the latest digital projection techniques. In this course, you will learn the disparity between these faux holograms and the real thing -  a vast difference. Other techniques like lenticular images will be explored to clearly show the transition from stereo imaging through a multi-view display technology that has laid the groundwork for Light Field Technology.

 

There is also much overlap with the latest developments in VR/AR/XR and many of the tools being used to create content for these immersive experiences are relevant to the latest digital holographic techniques. Volumetric imaging displays are also appearing and we will discuss the pros and cons of each of these new developments.

 

In the last couple of sessions, we will explore Light Field Technology, its origins, and the advances that have been made in recent years.  We will take a look at how we can create content for this new medium and explore the latest displays currently on the market including those most likely to be launched in the coming months and years.

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Throughout the course, you will experience presentations by prominent holographic artists and scientists/engineers who will speak about their work and the technologies they are developing.

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Summary

 

We are at the beginning of this journey, new imaging systems are being developed to capture dimensional content, software is becoming available that can be used to edit content in a spatial format, displays are starting to become available, and new software is evolving to handle the data compression, standards are being written for data transfer and many companies and individual artists are creating new content for these displays. This course will ground you with a foundation of knowledge about Optical Holography and take you on a journey of technology evolution as we move forward into the realm of Digital Holography.

 

Who should take this course?

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The course is appropriate for a range of students from artists, 3D animators, architects, VR/AR developers, filmmakers, producers, directors, and designers as well as company executives who want to understand the latest dimensional images to present and advertise their products.

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Questions?

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If you have any questions please contact me at lindalaw@lindalawholographics.com