Scientists make touchable holograms a reality — here’s how they work and real-world applications

What was once the domain of science fiction — touching and manipulating holograms with our bodies — is now becoming a reality, with a giant leap forward in mixed reality technology.
A new paper posted to the HAL open archive on March 6 explains how scientists have created a new form of holographic system that enables humans to manipulate 3D images suspended in the air directly. The holograms can now be touched, poked, and repositioned with the human hand without harming the system or the image. This breakthrough is based on incorporating elastic materials into a certain form of display known as a volumetric display.
Volumetric displays produce 3D images suspended in space by quickly displaying layers of 2D images at varying depths. The effect resembles a hologram you can walk around and see from many angles — no VR glasses needed.

Holograms are defined as volumetric graphics that can be seen from several angles. These graphics, previously static and mostly seen in virtual or augmented reality environments, are now becoming interactive and tactile. Holograms are not like conventional 3D displays, as they can be manipulated physically in mid-air without the use of VR headsets, controllers, or gloves. This revolutionary technology enables users to directly engage with hovering 3D images with only their hands, which gives the experience more natural and immersive.

Typically, these holographic displays employ a diffuser — a transparent sheet that vibrates back and forth at incredibly high speeds (oscillating), onto which images are shone. The human eye combines those rapid-moving layers into a 3D shape. Those diffusers have traditionally been brittle and rigid, meaning that to touch them would destroy the system or injure the user. So, it was not possible to touch holograms.
But here's the twist:
Scientists replaced the hard material with a stretchy, elastic material (as yet undisclosed). This enables individuals to touch the surface as it moves without damaging the display or shattering the illusion.
Naturally, introducing a soft material created a new issue: when it is touched, the surface bends or deforms, possibly distorting the image. The team overcame this by employing real-time image correction, keeping the 3D hologram precise even as the elastic material deforms.

For the first time, a 3D holographic system enables users to interact with the image in mid-air by hand alone. No gloves, no controllers, no headsets.
"We naturally interact with our phones using taps and swipes. This technology applies that concept to 3D space — allowing us to use our hands to touch and interact with floating holograms," explained lead researcher Asier Marzo, a professor of computer science at the Public University of Navarra (UPNA).

Though still in nascent stages and not yet peer-reviewed, this technology has tremendous potential. Here are a few examples:


Crucially, this achievement makes it possible to share moments in physical space — something that VR headsets do not facilitate easily.
The new prototype, part of the InteVol Project supported by the European Research Council (ERC), will be presented during the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Japan (April 26 – May 1). The lead author, researcher Bouzbib, emphasised that what we often call "holograms" in movies are actually volumetric graphics — visible from multiple angles and now, finally, touchable too.
Also Read | NYT Wordle | Genshin Impact Codes