We have all thought about what it would be like to touch and play with holograms, just like in sci-fi movies. Now, a group of researchers at UPNA has found a way to make that dream come true. It's called an interactive volumetric display, and it lets you reach out and move virtual objects with your hands, just like in real life.
Unlike existing volumetric displays, this system lets people grab, rotate, and move virtual objects using their hands, just like touching objects on a screen. The secret behind this new tech is a flexible screen that vibrates quickly to show thousands of images every second. Traditional holograph screens use hard screens that can be dangerous to touch. But this new version uses a soft, stretchy material that’s much safer and also reacts better when you touch or move things around. It works by showing nearly 2,880 images per second, which creates the effect of a 3D object floating in the air.
This innovation opens doors for educational tools, museums, and collaborative spaces, offering a more natural, immersive, and hands-on experience with digital content. The team will present their work at the CHI 2025 conference in Japan, where top tech companies like Apple, Meta, and Microsoft will also be showcasing new innovations. This tech is part of the InteVol project, which is funded by the European Research Council, one among major groups in the EU that support important research like this.
This technology can change how we learn, explore, and even work in the future. So next time you see someone moving around a 3D skull in thin air, it might not be a movie anymore but a reality.
