Modern technology has made amazing progress over the years. What was once purely science fiction is now practically available in almost any consumer-grade product in the market. For the longest time, we have been waiting for holographic projection to become available. However, the closest way we could emulate the experience requires the use of augmented reality glasses. Perhaps the Looking Glass Portrait will pave the way and turn holograms into reality.

Billed as the world’s first personal holographic display, the folks behind this crowdfunding project might be onto something remarkable. This is a next-level tech that will allow us to view images in 3D without the aid of special equipment. What the Nintendo 3DS was able to achieve is mind-boggling, but the Looking Glass Portrait pushes it into overdrive.

Creative professionals who dabble in 3D graphics now have the perfect canvas to showcase their work. Not to worry, because even regular users can enjoy its features with minimal effort. As long the cameras on your device are capable of capturing depth information, it should be as easy as importing the photos to the Looking Glass Portrait.

Software developers, on the other hand, can design applications with help of popular game engines like Unreal and Unity. At its core is a Raspberry Pi 4 module that runs a proprietary program to produce the holographic visual effects.

The Looking Glass Portrait might seem like a novelty gadget, but its functionality appears groundbreaking. It’s likewise compatible with a wide selection of sensors and peripherals that can unlock a whole new layer of immersion. So far, depth-sensing gear the manufacturer mentions are the Microsoft Azure Kinect and Intel RealSense.

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Images courtesy of Looking Glass