How to Make a Hologram With Processing

Objective : Cut and assemble the plastic to form a pyramid that will reflect light from the computer screen and display a hologram as a result.

You'll need very few components for this project.

• Laptop screen with Processing software installed
• Sheet of transparent plastic (ex. PVC)
• Transparent tape
• A drawing software (ex. paint or gimp)
• A pair of scissors

You will need to draw the sides of your pyramid based on the size of your computer screen. First you need to follow these steps:

1) Download the Processing software from the official website and install it on your computer.

2) Open our processing code to figure out the size of your pyramid.

Processing website : https://processing.org/

Processing code for hologram : https://shorturl.at/gkrCD

Open Processing and load our code. Run the program and you should be able to see a white square in the middle of screen. Mesure one side of the square and make a cross multiplication to obtain the size of the four parts of the pyramid.

For example, if your square is 2cm large you obtain these results:

Base square : 1cm * 2cm = 2cm

Pyramid height : 3.5cm * 2cm = 7cm

Pyramid upper side : 6cm * 2cm = 12cm

Cut four sides of your pyramid out of your paper sheet and fix them together with a transparent tape for a better result.

Your pyramid is now ready to display the hologram.

The next step is to make a drawing. Open your favorite drawing software and draw whatever you want in a squared canvas with no background (400*400px).

Save your image in the processing sketch folder that you downloaded before.

Now run the file hologram_with_picture.pde

Processing software should launch. A full code should be visible.

Identify line 23 of the code. You should replace "ball_square.png" with the name and extension of your draw.

By clicking the play icon your image should now be displayed four times on the screen.

Turn off the lights and place your pyramid on the screen to view the hologram.

You can also play with the values on line 10 and 11 to change the size of your image as well as their distance from the center of the screen.

The hologram technology has been around for many decades and different ways of displaying holograms exist. Real life applications of the hologram technology include applications in the field of arts.

Artists such as Hatsune Miku or Michael Jackson, or even the French politician Jean-Luc Melanchon used it to stream their own persona in different locations as if they were actually present in different places at once.

Some hologram techniques use a combination of rotating fans and leds to display the virtual object. Others include physical plasma that actually has a matter-like consistency.

Although applications of holograms are currently limited, in the future we expect them to boost especially in the advertising industry.