We've all seen holograms, and what makes it special
is its three-dimensional nature, which
is much different than a perspective
change on a photograph.
We call many things holograms, but many are not.
For example, many 3D projections,
such as when they brought back Michael Jackson,
is just a optical illusion where it's
a projection of that individual.
This is something we call Pepper's ghost.
I'm here offering an IAP course here at MIT
called Hands-On Holography.
We cover geometrical optics.
We cover the electromagnetic spectrum.
We generate our own optical holograms as well as
audio holograms, and we get into computational holograms
as well.
A big takeaway from this class is really
understanding the wave mechanics of light
and the electromagnetic spectrum.
If we look at the two words in a hologram,
it means "whole writing."
And we take into account a special nature
of light, which we call phase, and recorded it on a film plate
using an interference pattern to recreate an entire scene
in its entirety.
People think of anything that appears three dimensional to be
a hologram, but if it doesn't contain that phase nature,
it is not a hologram.
We have individuals ranging from art majors to engineers.
We've even had some MIT staff themselves take this course.
And we try to really give a intuitive feel for what
is going on with holograms and interference patterns
in general.
I'm an optical engineer.
I enjoy the wave nature of light.
What makes holography really special
is that we're able to extract that phase
nature and that extra information and make use of it.