A hand-held immaterial volumetric display

We have created an ultralight, movable, “immaterial” fogscreen. It is based on the fogscreen mid-air imaging technology. The hand-held unit is roughly the size and weight of an ordinary toaster. If the screen is tracked, it can be swept in the air to create mid-air slices of volumetric objects, or to show augmented reality (AR) content on top of real objects. Interfacing devices and methodologies, such as hand and gesture trackers, camera-based trackers and object recognition, can make the screen interactive. The user can easily interact with any physical object or virtual information, as the screen is permeable. Any real objects can be seen through the screen, instead of e.g., through a video-based augmented reality screen. It creates a mixed reality setup where both the real world object and the augmented reality content can be viewed and interacted with simultaneously. The hand-held mid-air screen can be used e.g., as a novel collaborating or classroom tool for individual students or small groups.