Samsung has a new phone coming out, but you would have never guessed it by the buzz surrounding the presentations the company has been giving. At product launches in London, Dubai, and Singapore, Samsung partnered up with Korean design firm d'strict to showcase its Jet phone in a holographic-like interactive display that's one part Star Trek Holodeck, one part Project Natal, three parts awesome. According to a blog post from d'strict:
"The fantastic hologram that appeared, disappeared, and moved about freely at the command of the host's gestures brought about illusions of the "Minority Report." This can be described as a performance that was enabled through d'strict's unmatched and innovative technology that employed 3D hologram and infrared lights."
As far as this simple mind can tell, it looks like the presentation uses two or more transparent screens like those of scrims in theater. Synchronized, high-definition projectors respond to the gestures that are tracked and analyzed... somewhere, which bounce the actual images back and forth between the screens. It's a tight effect, as the transitions and zoom effects between the screens have to be flawless in order to convey the illusion of an object passing through a 3D plane.
For a better explanation of how this all could possibly work, check out Dimensional Studios's Musion Eyeliner System--specifically, the how-to video. I would wager that the setups between Samsung's presentation and Cisco's "holographic person" presentation, which uses the Dimensional Studios approach, are quite similar.
Full link: Samsungmobile Jet making film from d'strict