Researchers at MIT and Harvard are working towards developing “holographic video displays†that can bend light in different directions.
Scientists have discovered a possible formula for holographic displays: mix liquid and glass, and add heat. Sound simple, but in fact results in suspended glass particles in the fluid which can scatter light a thousand times.
The findings could potentially be huge for research into holographic displays and medical imaging, as blending solids and liquids in the same suspension can allow light to be steered in different directions at one time.
Researchers found that a temperature change of 10 degrees would increase the diffusivity of their device tenfold, and a change of 42 degrees changed it a thousandfold.
To develop “holographic” displays, cells filled with electrically responsive solid materials and a fluid could have their diffusivity changed with a heating electrode, similar to how cells filled with ionised gas change their colour in plasma TVs. Therefore adjacent cells could steer light in slightly different directions, mimicking the reflection of light off of a contoured surface and creating the illusion of three-dimensionality.
Source: MIT & Engadget