Maybe this is wishful thinking but could something like this be used to make star wars style holograms? Strategically placed laser shadows to block light sounds like a useful tool in that direction.
The ones I know of converge multiple beams at a point; this results in a Bloom (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_blooming). Not sure how they aim the beams. (Voice coil and mirrors, digital mirror device aka DLP. Both valid options with pros and cons)