The team created a basketball project that could be "touched and rolled and bounced."
Aerohaptic Holograms
Researchers have created a hologram which allows you to touch and feel it, similar to the holodecks in Star Trek.
According to Ravinder Dhahiya, a University of Glasgow researcher, the hologram system was created by using aerohaptics, which are jets of air that simulate the feeling of touch. According to Daahiya, the air jets are capable of allowing you to feel the fingers, wrists and hands of others.
This could eventually be used to allow you to interact with a virtual avatar of your colleague from another side of the globe and to feel their handshakes, he explained in his piece for The Conversation. This could be the beginning of a holodeck or other similar technology.
No gloves, no problems
The aerohaptic system is similar to touch sensory holograms of the past. It doesn't require either a handheld controller nor smart gloves to create the sensation of touch. Instead, the nozzle is capable of responding to your hand movements and blows air onto you with the appropriate force.
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Daahiya tested it with his team using an interactive projection of a basketball. He said that the ball can be convincingly touched and rolled.
He said that the touch feedback provided by the air jets is also modulated according to the virtual basketball surface. Users can feel the ball's rounded shape as it rolls off their fingers and the impact on their palms when it returns.
Holodeck: Welcome!
It would be cool to see the system fully developed until we have an honest-to God holodeck to live our Sherlock Holmes fantasies. However, for now, the system is pretty limited.
Daahiya hopes it will be used in the creation of some really amazing video games and to help doctors better treat patients, no matter where they may be.
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READ MORE: Holograms that you can touch [The Conversation]
Learn more about holograms: This portal lets you beam a hologram of yourself into video calls
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