The limits of what 2D technology can achieve by mimicking 3D have been reached, whether it’s 3D TVs, augmented reality (AR) (like the unprecedentedly popular Pokémon Go), or virtual reality (VR) headsets. True 3D display, or “holography,” is about to spread across industries to reinvent customer and worker experiences, minus the historical constraints of cost, data, and power consumption.

Gaming and industrial settings have embraced early versions of AR, but soon we can expect revolutionary use of AR and 3D holographic displays across automotive, retail, healthcare, and many other verticals. If your enterprise strategy doesn’t give AR and holography the attention they deserve, your customers and employees will look elsewhere, and you’ll be playing catch-up for a long time.

(True) holography generates 3D displays that match your eyes’ expectations

Current display technology, with its low resolutions, large headsets, and substantial power consumption, is inadequate for adoption en masse. VR (the HTC Vive, for example) has yet to fully solve issues surrounding motion sickness. To break into the consumer market, the hardware and energy consumption of high-resolution 3D displays must be cost-effective. Why have an enhanced 2D display if you can have a genuine 3D image? The reality is that the limits of what humans can perceive in 2D have been breached; for example, 8K resolution won’t be noticeably different from 4K. Enterprises are looking at 3D as the next way of evolving how humans visualize data and information.

Automotive, retail, healthcare, gaming, and many more verticals are about to embrace holography fully

A recent example is Airbus’ collaboration with Microsoft to explore HoloLens’ mixed reality applications; the partnership aims to boost the efficiency and ergonomics of work through improved information, communication, and visualization of problems. For example, by testing a design for its manufacturability and immersing trainees in future environments, Airbus aims to cut manufacturing times by a third while simultaneously improving quality.

The automotive sector will be one of holography’s first pioneers; projections on vehicle windscreens will mean drivers will no longer need to look at a dashboard or navigation devices. Mercedes, along with BMW, and Jaguar Land Rover, is installing holographic projection displays on its 2020 model dashboards; by 2025, every car will likely have such displays.

In the retail sector, shops are already augmenting their customers’  experiences, allowing consumers to try on virtual clothes and makeup or to see how a couch might fit their house.

In healthcare, surgeons—like manufacturers—will soon find their work augmented; world-leading surgeons will be able to deliver their expertise remotely, alongside visual instructions and annotations, throughout operations.

Computer gaming is one of the biggest targets for holographic technology. Gaming is often a pioneering adopter of innovation because users are willing to put up with less-than-perfect visuals and clunky technology in return for a better all-around user experience.

In the long-term, full-room Holodecks (a la Star Trek) are likely 10 to 15 years away from meaningful use cases; they are still at the academic and conceptual phases.

Despite enterprise and industrial cases, holographic AR adoption remains at low volume and in the development and proof-of-concept stages

We spoke with Darran Milne, CEO at VividQ, a software company driving an ecosystem moving toward “true holography.” VividQ defines “true holography” as producing genuine 3D displays, as opposed to the most widely used AR, VR, and 3D technologies, which rely on manipulated 2D images.

By 2023, Milne envisages widespread consumer models. Samsung, Apple, Sony, and others are desperately moving toward developing holographic technology for the masses. These firms are battling to become either the next evolution of the smartphone or a truly holographic version of (the failed) Google Glass.

Milne foresees slow adoption of holographic technologies if displays don’t hit the necessary standards in their initial go-to-market phases. Current 3D standards won’t propagate beyond industrial applications or gaming and into the wider consumer realm. They don’t offer the required user experience—3D holography must be convincing to the eye.

A large holography ecosystem is bubbling underneath the current AR market

VividQ’s algorithms aim to solve the data processing and storage challenges of creating genuine 3D displays at low cost and power consumption. Its network currently spans 15 partners across the value chain from optics to compute, hardware manufacturers, and beyond. Milne highlighted a current initiative that involved manufacturing prototype AR headsets for prospective OEMs and end-user enterprises as reference designs for the market to pick up, thereby accelerating innovation and adoption.

For customer engagement, examples of companies vying for mega-clients’ attention litter the holography sphere:

• Hypervsn creates holographic promotions for enterprise clients and brands, including Coca-Cola, Nike, M&Ms, and UNICEF. Hypervsn’s chief marketing officer Kevin Gordon commented that holography is primarily a B2B product as we standused at events and in entertainment, but that this is merely “scratching the surface” and “first generation,” adding “there is literally nothing on the market today that stops people in their tracks like this.”
• Several companies are developing “holobots,” or smart holographic digital assistants similar to Alexa or a Siri-type AI, for homes and businesses.
• VNTANA’s AR platform aims to fuel customer engagement without wearables while collecting real-time data to generate leads and convert sales; VNTANA works with Nike, Disney, ABC, Mercedes-Benz, Intel, and a variety of other clients and industries.

The Bottom Line: Holography will soon transcend industries to revolutionize both the customer and worker experience; it must be on your radar… if not ingrained in your enterprise’s strategy.

Current and near-future use cases are spreading far-and-wide. Even the least-imaginative of us can think of a not-too-unrealistic application for holography and AR in a business- or consumer-facing industry. For C-suites that have yet to pick up on this trend, it’s time to make an assessment and strategize or risk playing catch-up dictated by your industry’s pioneers for many years to come.