The 3D displays of the future will not be like the 3D displays of today. We anticipate that we will be given displays like the holodeck from Star Trek. Displays that are realistic, unencumbered and interactive. But, while there is consensus on expectations, there is no consensus on technology.

 

Two technologies, in particular, seem to have the potential to deliver the realistic 3D of the future: holographic video and lightfield displays. Holography is both a physically and computationally intensive display method, which uses diffraction to recreate wavefronts of light that in some cases are optically indistinguishable from the wavefronts emanating from real objects. Lightfield displays, which include a large family of lenticular and coded aperture methods, are more concerned with matching the input of the human visual system than they are with exactly replicating wavefronts.  As a result, lightfield displays have been able to achieve more, faster in some cases than holography. But can they do as much as holographic displays? Does it matter? Can they do more? Will holography dominate in the 2030's when computational complexity is no longer an issue? Will something entirely new emerge?

 

Join the OSA Display Technology Technical Group and their guest champions, Dr. Levent Onural (Bilkent University) and Dr. Gordon Wetzstein (Stanford University) as they engage in lighthearted debate on the relative merits of holographic video and lightfield displays.  Join the discussion yourself by submitting a comment to be read during the debate. Help us battle for the future this September 29th as part of what will undoubtedly be the most important debate of the year! 

 

View Levent Onural's presentation for this debate online now!

 

View Gordon Wetzstein's presentation for this debate online now!

 

Send your questions for the debate to TGactivities@osa.org prior to the webinar.

 

 

What You Will Learn in the Webinar:

• The comparison and contrast of lightfield and holographic displays.

 

Who Should Attend the Webinar:

• Anyone interested in the future of 3D displays.