Edinburgh-based tech firm Holoxica has revealed new tech which enables 3D videoconferencing without the need for specialist glasses.
The new technology has been developed with funding from the Government’s modern industrial strategy by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, focussed on innovation in response to COVID-19.
Holoxica’s solution uses off the shelf components such as a depth camera with light field 3D display technology to create motion video versions of holographic images.
The tech is designed to enable people to feel like they are genuinely in the room with someone else when video conferencing.
Director of Holoxica, Wendy Lamin said the technology complimented remote working well.
“During the global pandemic the business world has turned to videoconferencing to conduct meetings and conversations, but many people are currently suffering from ‘Zoom fatigue'” she said.
:This is not only caused by the sheer volume of meetings but also because it takes more effort to process someone’s non-verbal cues in 2D than 3D.”
Holoxica’s 3D telepresence demonstration has been built at the Edinburgh offices of Codebase, the UK’s largest tech incubator, delivering real 3D telepresence over a local area network. The company is now commercialising the 3D teleconferencing system which is expected to start from under £1000.
“Holoxica has created award-winning holographic 3D solutions for more than a decade from our base in Edinburgh,” added Lamin.
“Now we’ve applied the insight we gained from this work to deliver real time headset-free 3D videoconferencing for businesses of all sizes across the globe. We expect a commercial version to be available early in 2021.”
AR