Since Apple introduced portrait mode with its iPhone 7 Plus’ dual-camera setup, many other smartphones adopted the tech. So now, most smartphones in the market feature portrait mode, with an additional camera sensor, or with computational photography techniques. As a result, smartphone users have been capturing amazing portrait shots with DSLR-like bokeh effects. However, a small company from Brooklyn now wants you to showcase your portrait shots as 3D holograms on its unique holographic display.
Dubbed as “Looking Glass Portrait”, this first-of-its-kind personal holographic display can essentially turn your portrait mode shots into 3-dimensional holograms and display it on your desk or bedside table. It looks like a standard photo-frame from a distance. However, looking at it from different angles give users an amazing 3D effect without any additional headset or glasses.
There’s More to a Portrait Shot…
Now, you might be wondering how does the device transform a simple portrait mode shot into a 3D hologram. Well, for the unaware, a simple portrait mode image is not that simple. To capture a portrait shot, a smartphone has to capture the depth-information of a subject.
In the case of traditional portrait shots, as the priority is the background bokeh-effect, the smartphones use the depth-information to generate a picture with amazing bokeh. However, as the Looking Glass Portrait creators note, systems can also use this depth- information to generate a 3D version of a subject.
So, as the Looking Glass Portrait can display these 3D holograms with ease, any smartphone user can easily convert their portrait mode shots into 3D pieces using the company’s HoloPlay Studio software. They just need to upload the portrait images onto the software and with just a click of a button, those images will become 3D holograms, which can be displayed on your personal holographic display.
Additional Functionality
Apart from working as a standalone device, the Looking Glass Portrait can also become a secondary holographic display for your PC or Mac. This is particularly advantageous for game designers or 3D content creators to display their work-in-progress 3D objects in the way they are supposed to be displayed.
Moreover, users will be able to record holographic messages using Microsoft’s Azure Kinect and Intel’s RealSense depth cameras.
Price and Availability
The Looking Glass company is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for its product. It has already collected more than $1.65 million from 5,974 backers at the time of writing this article.
So, if you are looking for your own personal holographic display, you can back the project for $199 (~Rs. 14,709). The company aims to ship the product starting from March 2021.
