1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of hologram production and, more particularly, to applications of and interfaces for use with holograms.
2. Description of the Related Art
Numerous devices and techniques have been disclosed for producing and displaying various types of holograms including one-step techniques, updateable techniques, techniques relying on fringe pattern calculation, and traditional object/reference beam interference techniques. Moreover, the subject matter of the scenes displayed in such holograms varies from simple demonstration scenes, to artistic renderings, to portraits, to scenes of complex devices or spaces, and beyond.
With the development of various digital holography techniques, hologram subject matter can include virtually any computer graphics rendered scene, and can be based on numerous different data sources such as CAD information, physical measurements, photographic data, and the like. Holograms are particularly useful for visualizing complex three-dimensional spaces that users cannot normally interact with directly, such as large or small scale environments, dangerous environment, and inaccessible environments. The term “environment” is generally meant to include any sort of environment in which a person might find himself and/or representations of such environments, e.g., terrain, bodies of water, maps, buildings, campuses, facilities, vehicles, and other larger-scale physical spaces. Environments can also refer to smaller scales, the subject matter being visualized can include the inside of a device or apparatus, interior features biological specimens, or even sub-micron environments (e.g., the interior of a cell or molecule).
Despite the fact that such environments can be displayed in holograms, the full potential of such visualization devices and techniques has not been realized for a number of reasons. Chief among those reasons are the absence of additional visualization tools and image enhancements to both ease the ability of a user to utilize what may be an unfamiliar visualization technique, and combine the environment visualization with related information.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have improved systems and methods for producing, displaying, and interacting with holograms to overcome the above-identified deficiencies in the prior art.