Floating 3D Displays: Sci-Fi Tech
Holograms You Can Touch: A New Frontier in 3D Displays
Based on reporting by Maria Temming, Science News (April 29, 2025)
Commentary by Bill Milling, Video Producer
The futuristic tech we once saw only in movies like Iron Man is finally leaving the screen and entering the real world. A team of researchers in Spain has created an interactive 3D display that lets you physically reach into a floating image, grab it, and manipulate it, no headset required.
Sounds like sci-fi?
It’s not.
At the Public University of Navarre, researcher Elodie Bouzbib and her team developed a new type of volumetric display that uses elastic strips, like stretchy pant waistbands, instead of a rigid, fast-moving screen. Your fingers can pass through the material, interact with the visuals, and control digital objects like Tony Stark.
This breakthrough, FlexiVol, will be showcased at the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Yokohama on April 30. Its size is about that of a square Tupperware container, 19 cm wide and 8 cm deep, large enough to play with and small enough to spark ideas.
In tests with volunteers, the display allowed users to pinch, drag, trace, and rotate 3D objects more naturally and efficiently with their hands than a 3D mouse. Surprisingly, the material felt good.
“It feels soft. It tickles a bit,” said Bouzbib.
Why This Matters to Video Producers
As someone deep in video and AI-driven production, here’s what excites me most:
Tangible Interfaces: Imagine editing or storyboarding in 3D space with no headset, no keyboard.
Education & Museums: These displays could revolutionize learning, anatomy, art, and physics with hands-on digital models.
Product Visualization: Interactive virtual product demos could transform advertising, e-commerce, and retail filmmaking.
Surgical Robots & Control Panels: As test participants suggested, this could redefine user interfaces in medicine and engineering.
Researcher Tatsuki Fushimi from the University of Tsukuba has worked with levitated sound-based 3D graphics called FlexiVol, which is a giant leap. Sound displays can only generate images about 1 cm wide.
This is an entirely different scale.
Sure, we’re not quite at the Star Trek holodeck yet. But this is a compelling step forward with possible future enhancements like ultrasound-based tactile feedback and maybe even midair projections on gas layers.
I’ll be watching closely. This isn’t just about interactivity; it’s about how we feel stories, ideas, and virtual worlds in physical space.
“Original Reporting:
Temming, M. (2025, April 29). Floating 3D displays that users can touch take a step toward reality. Science News.
Citation: E. Bouzbib et al. FlexiVol: A volumetric display with an elastic diffuser to enable reach-through interaction. Presented at CHI Conference, April 30, 2025.”
Bill Milling
Founder, American Movie Company
AI Video Production & Virtual Studio Solutions