A hologram is an image that appears to be three dimensional and which can be seen with the naked eye. Holograms were commonly used in specials effect and to resurrect late musicians at concerts, but now they are used in a lot more places, including in furniture. Digital Maker and Fabrication student, Daryl Garcia enjoys working with his hands to build, problem solve, and integrate leading technology into unique furniture pieces. For Daryl’s Student Innovation Project (SIP), he was inspired to create the Hologram Table.
Daryl started by building a smaller five-inch version as well as a hologram lantern in the past, which gave him the idea. He built a frame around a spare TV and used a 3D printer for the brackets to hold the TV in place. Raspberry Pi converts the image into a hologram, the TV plays the image and creates the projection. The table is able to play music in sync with the images since the TV already has speakers built in. Video and image options are endless because anything with a HDMI port can be plugged into the TV. Images with a lot movement look best like fireworks and are the coolest to watch. This Student Innovation Project has inspired other hologram-furniture pieces. “It would be cool to make a dining room table and make it [the hologram] rise up out of it,” Daryl states, “I’m working on another project where I’m trying to build a smart mirror. I’m trying to get the program site working, but I have the mirror portion done.”
