Your iPhone (even an old one) can project 3D holograms – Here’s how
Sci-fi films such as “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” famously used holograms to communicate with people in galaxies far (far) away. But while those are conjurings of Hollywood, the technology does exist and is being used today.
Perhaps the best example of how eerie holograms can be was Tupac Shakur’s appearance at the 2012 Coachella festival. The rapper performed with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in holographic form despite being deceased for 16 years. That event cost between $100,000 and $400,000 to produce.
Thankfully, the technology can be created for much less with just your iPhone. Read on to see how you can project objects using your iPhone and items around your house.
Here’s the backstory
Tupac isn’t the only celebrity that has made a posthumous appearance. A holographic version of Roy Orbison embarked on a nationwide tour in 2018. Several others got the same treatment, but the technology is too expensive to be commercially viable.
While we can only dream of having holograms dotted around our homes, the next best option is to use the built-in technology on Apple iPhones to project objects ourselves. In a video from popular YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss, he explains how easy it is to create your hologram.
The video was first uploaded seven years ago and viewed over 24 million times. Yet most are not aware of the iPhone’s holographic capabilities.
What you can do about it
The steps to project small butterflies, skulls or jellyfish from your iPhone’s display are relatively simple. The hologram isn’t as big as you might like, but it’s definitely a neat trick.
In addition to an iPhone, what you’ll need is:
- Graph paper
- Tape or superglue
- Pen
- Scissors
- Carpet or glass knife
- A reasonable size of clear plastic like an old CD case, plexiglass or a transparent acrylic
Once you have all the components, your goal is to create a pyramid without a top. To do this, trace out an isosceles trapezoid on graph paper. It should measure 2.36 inches at the base, 1.37 inches on the vertical sides, and 0.39 inches at the top.
The angle between the base and vertical sides is roughly 45 degrees in each corner, while the angle between the top and the connecting vertical sides is 134 degrees.
Next, place the clear plastic over the paper trapezoid and use the pen to mark the borders. Then, using the carpet knife, carefully cut out four plastic trapezoids. For the final assembly, stick the four plastic pieces together with the superglue or tape to form a shape that resembles a square cone or funnel.
Now it’s time for the magic. First, remember that content needs to be made explicitly from hologram technology. You can navigate to HOLHO Collection or this Compilation of Hologram Videos on YouTube for a great selection.
Load the video of choice on your iPhone, place it on a flat surface, gently position the hologram viewer you made on the indicated position and hit play. And that is all there is to it!
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Tags: Apple, Apple iPhone, Star Trek, Star Wars, technology, YouTube