How to turn your smartphone into a 3D hologram projector
Once a quarter we do a team hackday at EyeEm. Whether it’s optimizing the way we work, hacking our own products or learning new skills, it’s a day dedicated to making our creative ideas a reality. That day was today and here is what I have been working on. (And yes, we are hiring!)
Wired called it THE COOLEST social media trend since food photos: using your smartphones to create 3D holograms, and the results are actually awesome. Here is a simple guide that gets you started right away:
What you need:
- Graph paper
- A CD case or other transparent plastic
- A pen
- A pair of scissors
- A ruler
- Tape or superglue
- A craft knife or glass cutter
- Your smartphone
How to make the projector:
Sketch out a basic trapezoid shape on the graph paper using the dimensions 1xm x 3.5cm x 6cm.
You can also simply download a super useful trapezoid template for free on this dropbox.
Snap off the shallow sides of the CD case and carefully trace around the paper template to cut the shape into the transparent plastic. Repeat four times and it clean up to create good visibility.
Tape the four shapes together, with the longest sides facing the top of the structure or use the glue instead
Choose a video:
- There is plenty of resources all over youtube. The trick is to create 4 perfectly mirrored animations as you can see in the Ironman video below. Also highly recommended is this video of a waltzing T Rex.
- Place the trapezoid over a video playing on your smartphone and go!
And Play!
Virtual Reality will be king
VR was big in 2015, but it will be even bigger this year. When asked about his 5 predictions on the future of photography, Stephen Mayes states that we should also expect the unexpected when it comes to VR.
We’ve been hearing about VR for a while and we’ve already sampled the first consumer experiences with some quick and easy solutions delivered by www.vrideo.com and Google’s Cardboard headset amongst many others. Be prepared for what’s coming next: not only the much hyped release of Oculus Rift and Microsoft HoloLens at the high-end, but also GoPro 360º camera arrays and the new surge of 3D Smartphone cameras that are hitting the market for everyday casual creators who will start building their own VR experiences.
