Will Apple devices will soon project holograms?

A few days ago on the Bloomberg Businessweek website,  a fascinating and well-argued Ben Kunz article was published that suggested Apple devices will soon be projecting holograms, and über-realistic ones at that.

Sounds ridiculous, right? Well … maybe not. According to Kunz, who runs a media planning and Internet strategy firm, “In November 2010, Apple patented a three-dimensional display system that would ‘mimic a hologram’ without requiring special glasses.”

We’ll link to the article below, but first, here are the main takeaways:

(1) It’s true that 3DTV technology has not been a runaway success for the consumer electronics industry. But as Kunz points out, Apple has a long history of significantly improving upon products that other companies have previously launched with little success.

(2) If the aforementioned Apple patent can be believed, Apple’s holographic technology will be much more impressive and life-like than anything we’ve seen before. (With the obvious exception of Tupac’s surprise appearance at Coachella, of course.)

(3) “Finally … the Apple hologram system would detect who is watching, and be able to display different images to different people. The patent says ‘individual observers … can be uniquely identified based upon distinctive personal characteristics (e.g., height, shoulder width, distinctive outline, etc.),’ allowing outbound beamed projections to be changed for each observer.” —Ben Kunz

[Read the original article here.]

And while you’re at it, do yourself a huge favor and pick up a subscription to Bloomberg Businessweek for your iPad (free for print subscribers; US$2.99/month for non-subscribers.) The original BusinessWeek was always a decent read, but following its brilliant 2010 redesign, it’s become quite possibly the very best general interest consumer magazine on the market.  ∞