Holographic Testbed Gets Funding Boost

Walton Institute, based at the South East Technological University (SETU) in Waterford, Ireland, has been chosen as one of the recipients of the €16.5 million 2023 Capital Equipment Fund administered by Enterprise Ireland through the Technology Gateway and Technology Centre Programmes.

The Institute will invest in a suite of immersive equipment including a hologram room, holographic table, and emerging extended reality headsets, enhancing the Institute’s laboratory facilities. The new holographic testbed will enable multidisciplinary co-design and digital driven innovation by providing a platform where users can view and collaboratively interact with virtual representations of models in real time. This includes life-size representations of building plans and machinery which has many benefits for architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), automotive, aeronautical and industry training.

In the AEC industry alone, this technology could help identify areas requiring rectification at an early stage in the design process, which would not only optimise design efficiency but also enhance client satisfaction.

The Institute believes that the hologram room itself surpasses any immersive reality experience currently available. It consists of a fully enclosed space filled with projectors and tracking equipment capable of providing an immersive holographic environment. This essentially renders the room’s walls ‘invisible,’ so the user operates under the illusion that they are in a huge holographic open space.

Users are not required to wear virtual reality headsets in the room. Instead, they wear streamlined eyewear and can even make eye contact with others in the room, while maintaining spatial awareness. It is also hoped they will experience significantly less motion sickness in comparison to virtual reality (VR) experiences.

‘There is a vast amount of use cases for this state-of-the-art holographic equipment, and I can see how it would be beneficial for architecture, engineering, training, education, and the arts, among many other sectors. It would greatly enhance real-time collaborations with users being able to view and interact with the same content,’ said Stephen Barnes, Mixed Reality Lab Lead, Walton Institute.

‘Holographic tables and rooms are capable of displaying life-size virtual objects and even 3D animated models, so it would be possible for users to view and interact with a scan of an entire landscape. The addition of the emerging extended reality headsets will also help maximise the offerings provided by the Mixed Reality and Digital Photogrammetry labs at Walton Institute and optimise industry engagement, providing fully immersive VR experiences and enhanced AR capabilities, with devices capable of blending real and virtual objects seamlessly.’

For architects or designers and clients, the testbed would provide an extraordinary opportunity to fully immerse themselves into a life-size model and essentially have the feeling of ‘living’ in the design. This unique collaboration platform would be an improvement on current immersive technology solutions, removing the existing limitations of collaborative augmented reality experiences, with users able to comfortably collaborate in the same holographic environment.

Similarly, in the manufacturing and pharmaceutical industries, the proposed testbed would enhance the industries' ability to engage with realistic digital twin processes, including high-resolution interactive representations of equipment for both lean manufacturing processes and exploration as well as training purposes. Artists and animation studios, meanwhile, would have the opportunity to virtually exhibit their 3D work, including animations, in a thoroughly engaging and innovative way.