The world of holograms for commercial and consumer uses is gaining some traction. IKIN of San Diego announced on Monday the commercial availability of a desktop-sized holographic terminal that allows high-res holographic displays in ambient light.
The IKIN ARC platform will list at under $5,000 for a standard model which runs IKIN apps on an included Windows OS platform, a spokesman told Fierce Electronics. It includes a self-contained 15-inch display and can be customized to address specific uses in advanced engineering and design as well as logistics and education.
It won’t require headgear of goggles for users to create and view holographic content using the Unity Technologies dev platform to create apps. Images on the display can be moved by face and eye tracking.
The system also works across wireless networks and has been deployed in a U.S. Marine Corp warehouse over private 5G.
IKIN is also in the process of producing its RYZ Accessory, a device to allow holograms on a personal level with a smartphone, which it expects to release in early 2023.
Part of the problem with holograms for commercial use thus far has been cost and displays that appear faded or cartoonish and not photo-realistic. Fierce Electronics has not evaluated in person the IKIN ARC, but has seen videos of it in use.
IKIN ARC’s size and price point could be attractive to businesses.
Los Angeles-based Proto makes a 7-foot-tall booth got $60,000 to bring life-size holograms to stages and other venues and charges $25,000 to rent the booth per event, according to reports. It is being used by University of Central Florida medical students for remote consults.
Hololens 2 from Microsoft has been demonstrated in larger industrial applications as well. Other major companies such as Google are investigating future uses for holograms on a variety of applications, including for the metaverse.
James Brehm, chief technology evangelist of market research firm James Brehm and Associates predicted IKIN ARC will benefit from the ability to display and move images without headgear or special lighting. “Making holographic content available to the commercial sector should ultimately enable a new wave of products, applications and services,” he said in a statement.
IKIN posted on its website a recent video produced by The Wall Street Journal that includes snippets of its ARC and upcoming RYZ Accessory for personal use with smartphones. The video features Proto in use as well.
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