Voxbox Offers Customers Cutting-Edge Holographic Technology

Published: April 17, 2015 9:00 AM /

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Voxbox

Holographic Optical Technologies, a holography company based in Augusta Georgia, is going to bring its cutting edge Voxbox to the public. Although the technology behind the Voxbox has seen some usage in field of medicine, so far it hasn't been available to a mainstream market – but that's about to change. With a Kickstarter campaign scheduled to start on April 20th, Holographic Optical Technologies is going to raise money to bring this technology to the general public.

The Voxbox itself is a special screen capable of projecting holograms using a transparent sheet known as a Voxgram, to be placed over the screen in order to project the Hologram. The Voxgram contains in it the holographic data of the object to be projected. Users will be able to upload 3D models of their choice to be turned into Voxgrams. There will be two models of Voxbox available: The Voxbox with an 8-inch display, and the Voxbox Pro with a 22-inch display. While the Voxbox is intended for personal use, the Voxbox Pro is aimed at professionals in the fields of medicine, architecture, and engineering.

These holograms have millimeter-level accuracy, so even the smallest details are represented correctly. Also important is that the holograms projected with this technology display the true color of the recorded objects, which is notoriously difficult with other holographic technologies. They're known as transmission holograms, which are lit from the back. The creators believe this will make the holograms easier to move around than those lit from the front.

An earlier version of this technology was used in 2006, where it provided valuable service in the separation of conjoined twins in Utah. Since then, the technology has continued to improve and has garnered high praise from specialists in cardiology and neurosurgery. Voxgrams can be created from CT scans, which provide a cross-section of organs in a person's body. These individual slices can be combined to create a 3D representation of the structures. These have been quite useful to surgeons when they are planning an operation. The incredibly high level of accuracy they provide allows the surgeons to completely trust these holograms when making lifesaving decision.

It's not just the doctors and surgeons who have benefited from this technology, but patients as well. In this video, Stephen Hart, the chief inventor behind this technology, mentions the importance of informed consent when patients are deciding on surgery. These 3D projections give a much clearer picture than looking at a series of 2D slices, and are easier for patients to understand. Hart specifically mentioned an example of a four-year-old child identifying a tumor in a holographic projections of a brain.

While this technology has already provided great benefits in the field of medicine, the possible applications are limitless. Entertainment, advertisement and virtual reality will soon be able to make use of this technology. The team is planning to develop animated and interactive holograms, which would greatly increase the value of this technology. For more information check out the official site of Holographic Optical Technologies.

Disclosure: Tristan Hart is a former writer for TechRaptor and is working on this project.

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I’m a technology reporter located near the Innovation District of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.