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Artists working with “holograms” are not mastering one universal technology. They are learning to compose for several different kinds of three-dimensional display, each with its own way of creating depth, its own viewing conditions and its own limits. A digital sculpture that looks convincing on a monitor may lose detail, distort or become difficult to view when adapted for a light-field or volumetric display.
The practical challenge is not simply making an image appear to float. It is matching the artwork’s depth, movement, light and audience experience to a particular optical system—and often working with technicians to make that translation succeed.
What counts as holography in art?
In strict optical holography, light from an object is recorded as an interference pattern and later reconstructed under suitable illumination. The result is tied to a physical recording medium and the conditions in which it is lit. Artists and museums have explored this medium since the laser-based work of the 1960s; the Getty’s Sculpting with Light exhibition placed contemporary work within that history.
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Today, “hologram” is also used for experiences made by light-field displays, volumetric displays, transparent screens, projection and augmented reality (AR). These are not interchangeable technologies. A three-dimensional appearance does not necessarily mean an image occupies a walk-around physical volume, and headset-free viewing does not necessarily mean viewers can see the work from every angle.
It helps to separate three questions: how the image’s depth is generated, what the audience can see from different positions, and how the artist creates the content. A volumetric video capture, for example, can be shown on a flat screen, a light-field display, an AR device or a volumetric display. Capture and display are separate choices.
Four ways to make a 3D display experience
Transmission holography: depth recorded in a physical object
A transmission hologram records an optical image on a plate, film or glass and is viewed with controlled illumination. It can make light, transparency and changing viewpoint central to the artwork. It suits gallery objects and sculptural images where optical depth and material presence matter more than rapid digital revision.
Producing one typically calls for specialist recording and processing. The image is bound to its physical medium and lighting conditions, so editing, reproducing or scaling it is less flexible than changing a software-rendered scene. The Getty documents transmission holograms on glass plates in works by Deana Lawson and describes collaborations between artists and holography technicians.
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Light-field displays: several directional views from a screen
A light-field display sends different views in different directions, so viewers can see motion parallax without glasses. Artists can build from 3D models and animation, then prepare content for the display’s multiview or depth-based pipeline. This makes light-field screens useful for digital sculpture, interactive scenes and group presentations where headsets would be a barrier.
They do not automatically provide unrestricted walk-around viewing. The viewing cone and preferred viewing area vary by device, and content may need conversion or adjustment for a particular screen. Fine text, thin geometry, transparency and fast motion can be difficult to reproduce. Looking Glass describes its displays as presenting multiple perspectives and supporting content created with familiar 3D tools; Holoxica lists tools including HoloViewer, HoloSlicer, HoloPresence and HoloMaps for its Gen2 displays.
Volumetric displays: visible forms within a physical volume
Volumetric systems create visible points or surfaces within a display volume. They can suit spatial animation, abstract forms and data sculpture, especially when seeing an object from several sides is part of the idea. The U.S. Army’s overview of 3D displays distinguishes volumetric approaches, including Voxon’s moving-screen system, from light-field and other methods.
The physical volume imposes limits: resolution, brightness, refresh, color and occlusion may constrain the image, and many systems are better suited to objects or diagrams than photorealistic people. Interaction may also need external tracking or a separate interface. A volumetric display’s visible volume is part of the artwork’s actual conditions, not just a bigger canvas.
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Transparent screens and stage illusions: presence built from optics and staging
Transparent LCDs, projection onto scrims or glass, and Pepper’s Ghost-style arrangements can make an image seem to appear in a room. They are useful for life-size speakers or performers, museum interpretation and theatrical installations. Their effect depends on contrast, background, lighting, camera or audience angle, and enclosure design; the image may remain planar or tied to a controlled viewing setup.
Holoconnects is explicit that its commercial “holographic” displays are not strict interference-based holograms: its systems use transparent LCD and optical-depth techniques. Its Holobox is a 2.06-meter-high enclosure, listed from €29,500, and the company says it requires electricity and internet. That type of system may suit a managed event or institutional presentation, but it is not a substitute for a free-standing, fully volumetric object.
How artists translate an idea into display-ready work
A 3D display project is a sequence of translations, not a single export. The most important early decision is how viewers are expected to encounter the piece.
- Define the viewing behavior. Decide whether viewers will stand in one place or move around, whether one person or a group must see the work at once, and whether it will be viewed in a dark gallery, daylight or stage lighting. Set expectations for interaction, viewing distance and audience position.
- Choose a depth model. The source might be a conventional 3D scene, sculpted mesh, volumetric capture, depth map from 2D footage, multiview render, layered planes, optical exposure or a real-time scene driven by sensors or a game engine. The choice depends on the image and display, not on a single definition of “holographic content.”
- Author for the actual display. Adjust depth range, parallax, camera separation, occlusion, materials, motion, brightness and color for the device. Check text and fine detail at the intended distance. A monitor preview cannot reproduce the display’s viewing cone, directional images or optical reflections.
- Make a proof of concept with difficult content. Test a representative scene, including the materials and motion most likely to fail: for instance, smoke, glass, hair or foliage, plus a fast sequence and both bright and dark imagery. View it at the intended distance, with multiple people if the installation is for a group, and under the venue’s actual lighting.
- Install, calibrate and document. Plan for playback hardware and software, display calibration, sensors, networking and audio synchronization where needed. Document startup and shutdown, approved settings, recovery after power or network failure, maintenance and a fallback playback mode.
Artist Ashley Zelinskie’s portfolio includes work made for a Looking Glass display, including Totality 2024. The example illustrates a broader point: creating a compelling 3D asset and preparing it to read well through a particular display are related but distinct tasks.
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The skill stack—and why collaboration matters
Artists do not need to become engineers in every discipline, but they do need to understand the parts of the pipeline that affect the work. Depending on the project, useful skills include:
- 3D modeling, sculpting, texturing and materials;
- lighting for emissive, reflective and transparent surfaces;
- animation, compositing, photogrammetry or volumetric capture;
- depth-map generation and multiview rendering;
- real-time engines, sensors and interaction design;
- basic optics, color management, calibration and exhibition design; and
- technical production, installation and maintenance planning.
Holography has a long history of artist-technician collaboration. The Getty’s account of the C Project describes artists working with a specialized production team; its exhibition included work associated with Louise Bourgeois, Chuck Close, Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Ann McCoy and Dorothea Rockburne. Matthew Schreiber is notable as both an artist and a master technician. This is not merely invisible support: technical decisions shape the image and can be part of the medium’s authorship.
Depending on the technology, collaborators may include holography technicians, 3D artists, technical directors, display manufacturers, game-engine developers, projection designers, museum technologists, fabricators and installers. Specialist optical holography may require a studio or production partner rather than a self-service software workflow; the Jonathan Ross Hologram Collection is one resource for artist works and touring exhibitions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Artists use “holographic” methods in different ways
These examples are not all the same technology. Their value is in showing how different display methods can change an artwork’s material, spatial or audience logic.
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- Optical holography and collaboration: The C Project, documented by the Getty, shows how established artistic practices can be translated into holographic form with specialist technicians. August Muth’s Sentient Radiance offers another optical approach: the work changes as viewers move in relation to it.
- Digital display: Zelinskie’s Looking Glass work is an example of art designed for a light-field display rather than a holographic plate.
- Volumetric thinking: Roy Nachum’s Dragon describes translating 2D pixel information into 3D voxel information for a volumetric light installation. It points to a different compositional question: how an image changes when its structure is conceived in spatial units.
- Projection and atmosphere: Andrew Pepper’s projected-light work combines projection, film and smoke to make a volumetric drawing. The perceived volume comes from stagecraft and spatial light, not necessarily from a holographic recording.
- Public art across devices: Immersion X combines volumetric video, AR and visual-positioning technology in work by eleven international artists. That approach can connect digital work to place, but AR involves a device-mediated audience experience rather than a shared, naked-eye display.
Choose the display by the artwork’s needs
The following comparison is a practical guide, not a manufacturer-certified taxonomy. “Hologram” branding can obscure important differences, so judge the mechanism and viewing conditions rather than the label.
| Technology | Main strength | Main constraint | Good artistic fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transmission hologram | Optical depth and physical material presence | Specialist production; image tied to medium and illumination | Gallery object or light-based sculpture |
| Light-field display | Digital flexibility and glasses-free multi-viewing | Device-specific authoring and a limited viewing cone | Digital sculpture, visualization or interactive 3D scene |
| Volumetric display | Visible form within a physical volume | Display volume and limits in resolution, brightness or complexity | Abstract form, data art or spatial animation |
| Transparent LCD or light-box | Life-size presentation in a controlled enclosure | Planar or enclosure-bound image; sensitive to lighting and viewpoint | Telepresence, events or museum interpretation |
| Projection, scrim or Pepper’s Ghost | Large-scale theatrical image | Audience-position and lighting dependent | Performance or narrative installation |
| AR | Digital work can be placed in a real environment | Requires a device and can fragment the shared audience experience | Location-based or participatory public art |
Before committing, assess whether the artwork needs a fixed or moving viewpoint, how many people should see it at once, and whether its key materials, detail and motion survive on the device. Then account for interaction needs, venue lighting, floor area, power, mounting, cooling, technical support and conservation. More depth is not automatically better: shallow depth, occlusion or ambiguity may be more expressive than a photorealistic object pushed toward the viewer.
What the display cannot solve for you
A display purchase is only one part of an exhibition-ready work. Content production, custom housing, shipping, insurance, installation, staffing and venue adaptation may all contribute to the project’s real cost. A manufacturer demo in a dark room is not proof that the image will work in a bright gallery; test under the installation lighting and define the viewing zone, especially for light-field systems.
Plan for operational failure as well as visual performance. A public installation may need instructions for restarting playback, recovering after power loss, replacing media, handling network failure, cleaning optical surfaces and recalibrating sensors. If the work depends on proprietary software, a codec or a cloud service, preserve original 3D files, textures and fonts, exported masters, software versions, display profiles, hardware specifications and installation diagrams. A noninteractive fallback can help keep the work presentable if a system stops functioning.
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Prices and availability vary by seller, region and date, and a listed hardware price does not necessarily include tax, shipping, content production, installation or support. These examples give a sense of scale rather than a complete project quote.
- Small light-field prototype: Holoxica’s product page listed the 7.9-inch Looking Glass Portrait at £399, but marked it out of stock when crawled. Check availability before planning around it. A small display can help test depth composition, but it does not predict the behavior of a larger installation.
- Gallery or enterprise light-field display: Holoxica listed the 31.5-inch (80.1 cm) Looking Glass 8K Gen2 at £19,499 when crawled in 2026. Its size may suit group viewing or an installation centerpiece, but capital cost, shipping and support make it a very different commitment from a desktop prototype.
- Life-size transparent display: Holoconnects listed the 2.06-meter-high Holobox from €29,500 and offered purchase, lease and rental options. It requires electricity and internet. Rental may be more appropriate for a single event; obtain a full quote for content, transport, installation and operator support.
- New display formats: Looking Glass’s early-access page describes 16-inch and 27-inch Hololuminescent Displays combining a physical holographic volume layer with a high-resolution display. The company says they can accept standard video, animation, real-world footage, AI-generated content or rendered scenes without a traditional 3D pipeline. The page gave an expected early-June 2026 shipping date, which is not confirmation of current availability; verify fulfillment and pricing with the manufacturer.
For any system, request a demonstration with your own content and confirm the viewing cone, supported formats, software compatibility and operating requirements. Ask for the full cost of hardware, production, transport, installation, support and replacement risk before choosing a platform.
The artistic skill is knowing what the display makes possible
Mastery is not a matter of using the most futuristic screen or making the deepest possible image. It is the ability to understand how a particular system directs light, where its audience can stand, which materials it can reproduce, and how those conditions change composition. A plate, a light-field screen, a volumetric display and a projected illusion each offer different ways to make viewers perceive space. The artwork becomes convincing when the artist treats those differences as part of the medium.
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