AlphaTauri - HOLODESK

A dream come true – a hologram that floats in mid-air. Visible from all sides and easy to recognize.

We haven't quite reached the level of Princess Leias hologram in Star Wars, but we came very close with a project for AlphaTauri (a fashion brand by RedBull).

We were commissioned to create a show truck where people could have fun getting to know the innovative AlphaTauri products.

So why did we decide on holograms? They always look messy and grainy, and they're never really holograms anyway.

We ran across one at a trade fair – and it literally stopped us in our tracks.

At the booth of a Japanese start-up we saw a graphic that seemed to be floating in mid-air. You could reach right through it, yet it was clearly visible and high in contrast despite the relatively brightly lit surroundings. Talking to the booth staff, we quickly realized we needed a sample to test the possibilities.

Where is the magic in this product?

It's in a plane of glass that is specially manufactured in a complicated process. Crystalline reflectors are integrated vertically into two sheets of glass, which are then glued together at a 90° angle to achieve the desired effect.

The process results in a panel of glass about five millimeters thick. It reflects objects placed underneath it to create a representation that seems to float in mid-air – a hologram!

Our experiments with the panel were quite successful, and we our client AlphaTauri was just as thrilled as we were.

The hologram is clearly visible in a narrow area in front of the glass panel, thanks to the crystalline micro-reflectors embedded in the glass.

Because we wanted the product presentation to be an interactive experience for visitors to the show truck, we combined this exciting visual representation with gesture control for the objects displayed.

Thanks to sensor technology, visitors could move or rotate the objects, zoom in on them, and playfully interact with the hologram using hand gestures.

And because the presentation was about streetwear fashion, high-quality images of the products and their variants were also displayed on a tablet computer in front of the hologram. Always synchronized with the 3D display.

We also developed a tutorial game visitors could play in order to learn the gesture controls. Visitors had fun completing the tasks and learning to manipulate the hologram display.

The hologram themselves were created using 3D scans of the AlphaTauri products. The scans are also suitable for subsequent processing and additional use in marketing applications.

All content was generated in a game engine with real-time rendering, and the gesture control was integrated into the engine using a motion controller.

A local server was used to synchronize the hologram with the tablet display, which in turn can be used to order merchandise.

The combination of visual effects, gamification, and interactive controls created an innovative and impressive way to introduce the truly extraordinary AlphaTauri products.

We installed three stations within a single piece of furniture in the show truck. The furniture was designed and positioned to maximize the experience for visitors and users.

All in all, this was a challenging project that required a lot of work but was also a lot of fun and resulted in additional progress in our ability to apply new technologies for greater effect!