Back to the Future's Holomax 3D display might become a reality soon

 

 

Reversible jeans? Here. Self-strapping shoes? Check. Hoverboards? Yup.

 

That scary Holomax 3D display? Almost there!

 

Scientists have unveiled a prototype of a technological advance imagined in Back to the Future II—an outdoor 3D display that doesn’t require 3D glasses.

 

In the movie Back to the Future II, Marty McFly travels to October 21, 2015 from 1985 and panics when he encounters a giant 3D shark display. Now scientists say that we might actually be closer to achieving something similar, just a few days away from what the Internet is calling Back to the Future Day.

 

Researchers from the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien) and TriLite Technologies have found a way to create a 3D display using micro optics and micro mirrors, according to a release on the TU Wien website. The first prototype was developed a few months ago and uses mirrors to direct laser beams. Viewers’ left and right eyes perceive different images so it feels like they’re looking at a 3D image.

 

A second full-color prototype has also been developed.

 

“The software for controlling the modules and displaying movies has already been developed,” said Jörg Reitterer, one of the researchers who worked on the project. “We can use any off-the-shelf 3D movie and play it on our display.” — Bea Montenegro/TJD, GMA News