Modern Magic

Holograms are digital representations of literally anything we can imagine blended into our physical spaces. They are unlike any other digital construct that we have ever created for people to interact with in the modern age, in large part because of their fantastical nature. Holograms defy logic. We innately know they aren’t real, but still, we are surprised how convincingly they blend into the real world. Just like a master magician’s finale, holograms hold us absolutely spellbound and believing they’re real.

“Fragments” illustrates just how well holograms can blend into our surroundings (source: Microsoft)

People often refer to the feeling of interacting with holograms as magical. In large part, that’s because they manage to suspend our disbelief just well enough for us to let go and be very present in the moment. We are transported. Transfixed. And even though it’s not an entirely immersive transportation like with virtual reality, it is enough to evoke that childlike wonder we too often forget we’re capable of.

The interesting part of this phenomenon is we know full well holograms are not real – just as most audience members realize the magician on stage has just tricked them through sleight of hand or misdirection. Yet momentarily, we are all fooled into believing an amazing feat has been accomplished right in front of our eyes.

Holograms are the embodiment of that grand illusion and willing belief in magic. And just like a magician’s best trick, they leave us wanting more.

Profound Impact

Saying that holograms are completely mind blowing may not actually do them justice. Seeing and interacting with a hologram for the first time is truly memorable. For some, it is even profound. Holograms excite the mind with blinding speed. We see a universe of possibilities and new realities all in an instant. Everything suddenly seems possible. Nothing is out of bounds. We immediately recognize we’re right on the edge of something truly transformative for us as dreamers and storytellers. And in that way, it’s a spiritual awakening of sorts – a realization of how incredibly clever humans are and what we’re capable of.

This is a bit hard to do, but I’ll try to illustrate that first time feeling. See if you can imagine a cute dolphin appearing out of thin air right in front of you, squeaking a greeting, then tearing off to swim tight circles through the air around you so fast your head spins. Suddenly it stops, winks at you, squeaks a goodbye and disappears as quickly as it came. Did that work? Great. But, that’s nothing like what interacting with a hologram feels like. Sorry. No one can really describe it. It’s familiar and believable, exciting and fun, yet completely surreal. So, get out there and try it for yourself!

One thing you’ll probably notice about holograms is they are fundamentally a contradiction. Clearly digital, but uncannily real at the same time; life sized, yet resizable. Responsive, but not alive. Within reach, but not touchable. They are right there, but elusive. Holograms are like unicorns in that way. This paradox is precisely why they have such an impact on people.

Real enough to touch? Medical students learn anatomy holographically (source: Microsoft)

Not restricted to being just animated characters or everyday objects, holograms can take just about any shape and make any sound. They can be collections of abstract shapes and colors that react to music, or appear as incredibly realistic books, or tower over us like giant buildings. Their range is astounding.

Some holograms are even capable of warping space. You can create the appearance of entirely new spaces within existing physical ones. A breath-taking special effect used within holographic experiences is to punch out holes in floors or walls that seem to reveal entirely new worlds within. It is startlingly realistic and convincing. So much, you may not want to go too close.

The impact of holograms being so immensely flexible is that we can now express our dreams and aspirations in significantly new ways, some of which can’t even be imagined right now. They hold that much potential for true resonance.

Emotional Response

Another fascinating aspect of holograms is they cannot help but elicit an emotional response in people. They appear to co-exist in our space and our minds simultaneously, which triggers an unexpectedly personal connection. It’s as if we are hardwired to be fascinated and drawn in by their charms. This is a true experience goldmine if you are a Designer or Storyteller.

The most common advice given to creators of experiences is to make an emotional connection with the person engaged in the activity. We strive to leave people with a positive impression from the humanistic side. It’s considered the mark of a truly successful design effort. Holographic computing delivers that without even trying.

A sense of wonder is a common reaction to seeing holograms

Given the kind of emotional reaction holograms evoke, you’d think trying to understand why people are so drawn to holographic experiences would be a key consideration for any new project. Sadly, that’s often not the case. It’s so natural to tackle projects from the technological viewpoint first, we often rush headlong into these new endeavors with little consideration for the human side of the equation.

That said, we can easily avoid taking such a technologically heavy view of holographic computing by consciously putting people first in our design work. That doesn’t mean figuring out how to make the experience as efficient or fun as possible, or creating a cardboard cutout of the fictional customer. It does mean deeply understanding the entire holographic experience from another person’s perspective and context. What’s their emotional state? Is this so different from normal that it unintentionally causes anxiety or stress? How can we reinforce the fun aspects?

Digging into these questions with real people is just as important as understanding the mind-bending tech being used for holograms. Getting a solid foundation to make interaction decisions on will result in a huge leap forward from the experience design perspective.

Manageable Immersion

Unlike a virtual reality (VR) experience that completely immerses you in an encompassing digital world, mixed reality (MR) keeps you anchored to the real world by blending holograms in with the physical objects you naturally see around you. While VR acts as a transport mechanism to take us into self-contained worlds, mixed reality is an augmentation of the real spaces we reside in. It turns out that makes a tremendous difference in how someone will react to the immersion.

Many people report being motion sick or disoriented from VR experiences, due in part to a fairly common condition where our brains can’t properly process the inputs of moving within an enclosing world that is somehow mismatched with our bodies in the real world. Better techniques and newer technology are reducing the occurrences of VR sickness, but it’s more the nature of the complete immersion that triggers it.

Mixed reality doesn’t have as much of that discord since the person’s physical space is always visible and in sync with your senses. That natural connection to the real world keeps participants from getting sick as often, or often at all. Being anchored to the real world makes mixed reality much easier to stomach for many people (so to speak). It also allows you to see the people who may be watching you interacting with holograms, which alleviates to a degree the awkwardness and self-conscious feeling of being watched while fully immersed in VR.

Your physical environment is still visible when using mixed reality (source: Microsoft)

This more manageable type of immersion is why mixed reality is expected to be the dominant type of computing experience in the future. It remains to be seen if both approaches evolve to become more like each other over time, blurring the lines between complete versus manageable immersion.

Breakthrough Technology

You can count on one hand the number of truly breakthrough computing platforms that have come along in the last few decades — Desktop, Web, Mobile, Cloud. Each disrupted the status quo and set us on a new path into the future. Holographic is now without question one of those computing breakthroughs – and perhaps the most challenging platform for Designers and Developers to take full advantage of. We have once again leapt ahead into the future.

Holograms are currently only visible with the aid of ultra-high technology apparatus. Today, those are somewhat bulky and a bit heavy, but by the time you read this, who knows how miniaturized and lightweight they have become. Our sci-fi movies predict we’ll eventually be able to project holograms anywhere, or use optical lenses and implants to enable innocuous continual use. Perhaps a ways off, those visions are the roadmap for innovation in this space that all started with the following examples of breakthrough holographic technology.

Microsoft HoloLens

At the time of its introduction in 2015, Microsoft HoloLens represented the absolute apex of holographic computing technology – the ability to see lifelike 3D holograms with an untethered headset. Resembling a pair of high-tech ski goggles, the first holographic computing device ran on a custom Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) chipset, included Wi-Fi connectivity, built-in spatial sound, and rechargeable battery. A true technological marvel, the Microsoft HoloLens was just the first step on the journey to a rich holographic computing universe.

Microsoft HoloLens, the world’s first self-contained holographic computer

Windows Mixed Reality

The world’s first holographic operating system was originally introduced by Microsoft in 2015 to power the Microsoft HoloLens. Originally known as Windows Holographic, this variant of the Windows operating system provided a mixed reality platform for developers to experiment with, and featured the ability to integrate existing Windows Universal Apps into the mixed reality environment. Subsequently, Microsoft enabled compatible headsets to use a Windows Mixed Reality environment within Windows itself, mainstreaming some of the user experience that Microsoft HoloLens previously introduced.

The Desktop becomes immersive through Windows Mixed Reality (source: Microsoft)

Key Innovations

There are several areas where we have combined hardware and software in unique ways to help pave the way for widespread use and adoption of holograms. Individually, each of these areas represent a significant step forward in how well our devices and interfaces work, but having all of these advancements combined into the same device has created a giant leap forward in capability and experience.

Limitless Possibilities

By now, it should be clear that holograms are only limited by our imaginations. They hold immense promise to deeply change the way we communicate and connect with each other.

It’s fun to think about all the new experiences and adventures that will be launched because of this transformational medium, which is still in its infancy. We cannot really begin to predict the actual impact holograms will have on social interactions, business, gaming, medicine, communication, entertainment, education, and science in the coming decades.

All we know for certain is that holographic computing is the new frontier we’ll all be exploring to bring our dreams to life.