3D holographic prints can replace bulky physical models

What are cheap promotion technique, Zebra Guys, find better applications for your technology and stop trying to convince educated people that construction app. for 500$ is good idea, even if there is budget :), show 3D model using laptop and 3D glasses and get your client to restaurant for that 500$, come on, get real... 3D holographic would be good use in some museum, so you do not have to provide 3D glasses to all visitors while 3D screens are not available yet, after that - forget it at all, 3D holographic was really cool thing 30 years ago, not now.

The idea isn't to replace cad's 3D modeling, its to emphasize it. Although the architects & engineers in the world may find looking at a 3D image on a flat screen just as good as the real thing, clients still love a good "Wow." If the money is in the budget to create a 3D model, and this is cheaper, why not do this and bring your laptop with you to the presentation for added details? At least you don't have to worry about the model getting demolished on your way there, and if the client wants something changed aren't you going to have to scrap the first model anyway?

@ Doubter: Walk me up from the basement, then.... Or pop the roof off so I can see the floor plan... Or measure the distance between the window lintel on floor three and floor four.... Yeah, I know it's a hologram - I worked on synthetic holograms in teh late 80's and took a minor in optics in school - but a hologram's not better for the stupid application they cite than a PC and not as versatile. There are better, much better, apps, for holograms, but clearly they don't know what they are....technology looking for a market, settled on one, talked themselves into it, but the market is a brutal mistress. The world has passed them by. Heck, I can even buy a pair of "sunglasses" AND a Blu-Ray-based PC that do the same thing perceptually for A LOT LESS MONEY than their big dog hologram ( www.vuzix.com/iwear/products_wrap920.html ) and with these I can actually do every one of the things I asked you about here, things that a hologram cannot do - basic things a construction guy wants. The one hour delay argument to pay for itself is total BS and a false economy, IMEO. And nobody will argue the cost-based pricing because they are one-offs...but one-offs FOR WHAT?

Andy T: It's a hologram, so it's not one view. You can view it from many viewpoints, each different. LB: Your wine-drinking girl was mass produced. These are custom. Policebox: If this averts a one-hour delay at a large construction project, it will easily pay for itself many times over.

This appears to be a very cool advancement in holographic technology. For example, I was working with synthetic holograms (holograms for which the solid object never existed) back in the late 70's, but this is the first time I have seen a practical system to do it. Also, this is the first time that I have seen a hologram with reasonably naturalistic color. But the others are right, it won't be anything but a laboratory step on the way until the price comes way down.

I don't understand the pricing. I bought a picture of a girl drinking from a wine glass at a party for $12.95, 8x10 inch in Chicago, IL. I see no difference from that photo to what I see above. Seems very expensive $499.00 for a 12x12 inch not much bigger than my 3D holographic picture. Price has to come down, way down to be attractive and competitive against the use of a laptop as stated in Andy T's post. I wouldn't buy it.

It's really cool tech and capability, but.... $499 for a one view, one model, 12x12 hologram OR $499 for a laptop with a 15 inch screen that can show a 3D CAD parametric models and drawings (hundreds), models you can section and rotate, pop the roof off of to look at room partitioning (which is what you do with a physical architectural model), and can be updated in either direction via GPRS or 3G cell modem without having to put anything in a briefcase or airplane. Nowadays, customers expect virtual walk throughs and views at eye height, available in many architectural software suites, not just an outside picture view. Heck, with Webex, you can even collaborate during a phone call with many sites/vendors at once, and point at stuff, modify it on the fly and clarify "is this how you actually can build it?", "does this address your concerns?", "let me run a quick FEA on this newly modified parameter to ensure the mods are structurally within limits". Both laptop and hologram can be throwaway (which would be silly for the laptop, but my point is that you don't even need a ruggedized laptop for comparative economic reasons and there's a usually freeware CAD model viewer). And with Google Earth, that guy in your accompanying picture is pointing to something on that relief map that he cannot get elevation data from, lat/long information from, or put his own overlays on unless he has a Sharpie in that pocket protector. Maybe his watch is one of those Casio Altimeter watches and he's confused by the 3D realism in trying to get the elevation he's pointing to, LOL. Expensive technology looking for a market and a real application? Drawings or 3D models ain't it, IMO....you need the information in the 3D model, not just the picture, and it needs to interconnect with a myriad of other tools for validation, fitment, and structural integrity. Worst of all, the customer keeps changing stuff after being told time and time again that the design is frozen....