3D Rabbit: Living Cloud of Mist

Do you believe in ghosts? Well, now they can be created in the lab. Don't worry, in a cute form instead. Masataka Imura of Osaka University in Japan invented a new screen made of fog, that can make a 3D rabbit appear in mid-air like a ghost. 

The display can be viewed from different angles. To create the image, 3 projectors shine different variations of light with the rabbit shape into the fog stream. Water droplets in the mist scatter the light, softening the intense beam so that we can identify the picture. 


A person wearing an infrared LED can interact with the rabbit hologram by touching it. A camera above the display will detect the touch and trigger the projectors to change images. This technology can be used in medical clinics to help doctors visualize organs and explain procedures to patients.
We also recommend watching: "Siggraph: Japanese Touchable Holograms" and "Sony's RayModeler: Star Wars 3D Holograms Come True".

3D Rabbit: Living Cloud of Mist

Masataka Imura is an associate professor in the BioImaging Group, at the department of mechanical science and bioengineering at the graduate school of engineering science in Osaka University.