A Japanese company has unveiled a revolutionary plasma laser display which it claims can project a rudimentary image in thin air, bringing us one step closer to the holograms we all want to exist.
How does it work? Well, normally any form of 'hologram' requires projecting onto a surface whether it's glass, smoke or water. This display however is different. Created by Aerial Burton, the projector uses tiny but powerful plasma lasers which direct their energy to a set point, then ionise the molecules in the air directly - creating a tiny plasma burst which you then see as light.
Because the lasers can work to such an impressive degree of accuracy, the system is able to project what our eyes see as a rudimentary image, floating in the air above us.
At the moment the company is looking to turn their technology into a way of creating signs for emergency situations.
That said, this is only the first generation of a display technology that could give us something close to the dream we all have of a hologram.