Ghost Box aka Augmented Reality Holographic Monitors

Ghost Box was created by BCSA undergraduate alum and SCS staff member John Choi (founder of Choitek) as a research project to construct affordable open-source holographic display systems based off of the projection/animation principle “pepper’s ghost.”

Augmented and mixed reality display technologies are all the rage in tech today. Devices like the Microsoft HoloLens, the Magic Leap, and the Google Daydream are making waves as the “next big thing” in technology. Why are they so innovative, and what makes them so different from standard displays? It’s because of their ability to superimpose the digital world with the physical world. The unification of the material with the immaterial, the destruction of the divide between what is real and what is virtual. Augmented and mixed reality technologies allow you to combine the best of worlds to create new ones.

If this sounds like something you would like to experiment with, this Instructable exists to provide you with 6 free and open-source templates to create your own low-cost holographic display system using nothing more than a few laser cut acrylic sheets, some nuts and bolts, and an existing LCD screen from either a smartphone, tablet, or computer monitor. All you have to to do is assemble the template pieces, slot and screw them together and place a standard LCD display on top, and voila, your augmented/mixed reality holographic monitor is ready to go!

This project was made possible with support of microgrant#2018-033 from the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier. Additional images and instructions can be found here.