Monday, December 12th, 2011 Posted by Jim Thacker

Want a real-life holographic display? That’ll be $6,000

GraphicSpeak has an interesting article on zSpace, a new holographic 3D display from start-up Infinite Z.

As anyone who has visited Siggraph’s Emerging Technologies during the past decade will know, proof-of-concept desktop 3D displays are nothing new: what makes zSpace special is that it’s actually available commercially, albeit in beta.

The unit consists of a proprietary display (think a large angled tablet), polarised glasses and stylus, and supports Maya, 3DVIA and Autodesk Showcase out of the box.

Of course, the real test will be how comfortable zSpace is to use: from the video above, we have to say we think it looks a wee bit fiddly, but the GraphicSpeak article quotes a lot of positive feedback from users who saw it at Autodesk University.

‘As big as Windows’
Infinite Z isn’t shy of making big claims for the system, either: in a video on its website, the developer claims that zSpace is “no less significant than the transition from DOS to a GUI”.

(Perhaps more interestingly, it also claims that in its tests, users have been unable to tell a virtual model of a lighted candle from a real candle placed next to it on the display.)

A zSpace system will set you back $6,000, or $8,500 with three-year warranty.

Read GraphicSpeak’s article on zSpace

Visit the zSpace website

Visit the Infinite Z website