Excellence in Holography Awards 2023 - Winners

The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) awards have put sustainability and innovation at the heart of global holographic growth and success.

This year, the judges were particularly impressed by strong advances in new application areas and the continued integration of traditional holograms with other technologies to deliver added value authentication solutions, together with a host of augmented packaging and enhanced design possibilities.

The winner of the ‘Best Origination’ category, as well as overall winner of the ‘Best in Show’ (a new category for 2024 based on the highest score of all the submissions), was Meta Materials for its QUANTUM stripe banknote authentication product. Based on the company’s award-winning KolourOptik® technology, QUANTUM stripe combines movement, 3D stereoscopic depth, and multi-colour effects in an ultrathin form factor.

Best Origination and Best in Show – QUANTUM –Inspired by Nature, Meta Materials Inc (Canada).

 

The QUANTUM stripe is readily integrated into banknotes with industry- standard processes and equipment. Moreover, it is manufactured using clean, renewable hydroelectric energy within Meta’s high-security production facility, ensuring sustainability and environmental responsibility.

The ‘Best Applied Security Product’ category went to the Green LongLife RollingStar® Hologram Micromirror LEAD Mix, produced by banknote security specialist Louisenthal of Germany. This technology supports the holistic concept of optimised storytelling and counterfeit resilience in an innovative way by outstanding integration with the print and attractive and dynamic animated structures.

Green LongLife RollingStar Hologram Micromirror LEAD Mix, Louisenthal (Germany).

 

The judges particularly noted the complex combination of micro (holo) and macro (mirror) structures and colour shifts, integrating a traditional hologram with a micromirror feature incorporating great dynamics and 3D.

Korea’s Hologram Centre landed the ‘Best Display or Emerging Technology Application of Holography’ for its Snapshot CHIMERA® Holographic Portraits, which consist of a holographic stereogram printing technique combined with image interpolation using a neural network. This technology required only 12 cameras to record 34cm x 44cm full-parallax portraits, with 250-micron hogel resolution.

Snapshot CHIMERA Holographic Portraits, Hologram Centre (Korea).

 

This industry first, the judges said, highlighted how ultra-realistic, full-colour, and full-parallax snapshot holographic portraits can now be recorded – a great advance compared to previous techniques. As a result, holographic portraits can be developed and disseminated to the public on a larger scale.

The ‘Best Applied Decorative/Packaging Product’ category was secured by the 11th Enshrinement Yearbook cover for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. This was created using Hazen Paper Company’s HoloJet® paper, projecting an amplified refractive three-dimensional image of a basketball symbolising the Hall of Fame Dome.

2023 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Book, Hazen Paper Company (US).

 

The cover includes Fresnel lens technology and a new holographic element that Hazen calls Metal-Morphosis™, which utilises a new deep-groove system for sharper images and greater dimensionality. Appearing to move and change with the angle of light, the holographic treatment induces engagement and interaction with the book.

The custom holograms were created at Hazen’s US holographic laser lab, then micro-embossed and transfer-metallised onto smooth, 12-point WestRock Tango C2S using Hazen’s environmentally friendly Envirofoil® and HoloJet process. Envirofoil is a non-plastic paper that is recyclable as paper.

The holography, part of which was made using a PicoMaster 200-H, was created with an optical structure imparted on the surface of the paper (underneath the printed graphics) with an ultra-thin polymer layer of less than 2 microns in thickness.

The ’Best Innovation in Holographic Technology ‘ award was won by PicoMaster Single and Multiple Beam Direct Write Lithography from Raith Laser Systems BV (Netherlands) – which you can read more about on page 8.

PicoMaster Single and Multiple Beam Direct Write Lithography, Raith Laser Systems BV (Netherlands).

 

Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to all the companies that submitted nominations this year.

A video of the awards ceremony, which was held online on 22 November as part of The Holography Conference™ (see page 4) is available at https://vimeo.com/885898701.