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Comment by pmarreck | Hacker News Reader

I remember seeing an article in OMNI Magazine decades ago about "holographic data storage" which would have been incredibly high-density.

Not sure what became of it.

NYC also used to have the "Museum of Holography" which I was fortunately able to visit but may not exist anymore.

3D stuff, in general, seems to not do well. Not sure why! (as I dust off my Vision Pro)

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I went to New York’s Museum of Holography in the 1980’s. It was on Mercer Street but it closed in the 90’s. I remember it was incredible, though, and I saw some techniques on display that I haven’t seen matched since.

There was one in London in Covent Garden market around the same era (perhaps a small chain, or perhaps just a similar name).

One image that I remember being particularly impressed by was a model of a radio telescope dish. You could look around the dish and see all the support gantry. The contrast between the smooth dish face and the structure on the other side made the 3D nature very dramatic.

On the counter they had a nice mirror illusion¹ of a floating "help" button - not a plate hologram but a really nice effect and you can still get these. They tend to be cheap plastic and dust and scratches affect them over time, but it's still a really nice effect if you've not seen it before.

¹ https://sandradodd.com/airpig.html

The Camera Obscura in Edinburgh has a selection of holographic images or used to.

The Museum of Holography still exists! Worth a visit next time you are in NYC.

They also offer classes and a residency program that I have been keenly considering.

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