Rebecca Deem
redeem75@yahoo.com

About the author
Rebecca first saw holograms at an art gallery in 1970 while completing an Art supervision degree. In 1988, she received the Shearwater Foundation Art Holography Award. In 1995 with partner Fred Unterseher, she co-founded Zone Holografix Studios, an art and teaching studio with a pulse laser lab. She continues to exhibit artwork, teach and write for electronic and print publications.

The Practical Holography XVIII: Materials and Applications conference, was held in San Jose, CA, on January 19th and 20th as part of the week long International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) and IS&T Electronic Imaging conference. Tung H. Jeong and Hans I. Bjelkhagen, chaired the Practical Holography program. Dr. Jeong, with the help of Steve Smith (MIT), received approval for the conference to be dedicated to Dr. Stephen Benton (inventor of the rainbow hologram). There was a tribute to him, on the evening of January 21, resembling the MIT event in November, just after his death (http://www.holographer.org/articles/hg00004/hg00004.html). Jeannie Benton gave the opening remarks, followed by attendees who read their tributes. The written version will be published in the upcoming rainbow cover proceedings. SPIE created a CD-ROM of all 17 of the Benton-edited proceedings of the annual holography conferences he chaired, with an embossed hologram portrait of him produced by Toppan on the jacket.

Overall, there were no new breakthroughs reported. However, there were a number of progress updates and developments that are noteworthy. Two presentations from Japan stood out in the Digital Holography I session:

• Yuri Sakamoto reported on work by a team from Yamaha Corp. They have developed a device that ‘draws’ hologram data onto CD-R disks (based on the Yamaha RD-F1 CD-R/RW drive). The drive produces holograms in a short time, at low cost and at high resolution. It is small and portable, so that all of the processes of desktop ‘hologramming’, from calculation to recording, are possible with just one PC. They evaluated the optical properties of the disk and developed a new method of calculating the hologram data, suitable for a CD-R disk to produce 3D imagery. Sakamoto showed preliminary results of holograms with animated wire-frame images (2 cm²) written on conventional CD-Rs. The results show real promise.
• The other project under way in Japan is the “Real-time color holography system using a high-resolution reflective LCD panel”, by the team at Himeji Institute of Technology. They pointed out that a reflective LCD panel has much higher density and can create brighter image reconstructions than a transmissive one, and is therefore more suitable for red, blue and green (RBG) imaging. The holograms are displayed in real time on the RGB reflective LCD panel, and an RGB LED is used as the reference beam. The hologram is either calculated numerically as a computer generated hologram (CGH), or is recorded as an interference fringe pattern for a real object by a high-resolution complementary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) sensor.

In the Materials I session, Aachen University of Technology in Germany reported on the sustained development of materials used in the manufacture of high efficiency HOEs. They continue to use DCG as a critical part of the processing regime for holographic film on glass or plastic substrate. Using electron microscope photographs they illustrated their latest findings of the expanded bandwidth of the HOEs. They are investigating broader usage for solar applications.

SPIE, Bellingham, WA received a 2003 Shearwater Foundation award of $11,000.00 to support the attendance of ten artists to the conference. The first formal art holography session took place on the 19th, chaired by Fred Unterseher. Five artists presented papers including:

The following artists attended and exhibited work:

Steve Smith (MIT) organized the art exhibition including Dr. Benton’s holograms. These remained on view through the Photonics West conference which followed Electronic Imaging.

Michael Page’s presentation on the holographic stereogram light valve printer was well received. He showed his work and the work of his students with many examples of digitally animated subjects and live figures. August Muth showed LARGE format DCGs including a piece titled “Catherine’s Pond” a kidney shaped Koi pond with ten layers of DCG holograms embedded in heavy glass, mounted on a turntable. The imagery of shells, a koi fish and some leaves floated throughout the layers of the 100 lb glass art sculpture. Pearl John showed “LUNCH” a reflection hologram with CO₂ laser-etched writing on the fruit of the subject as well as the frame. Marie Christian Mathieu presented “Soup (e)” which combined interactive computer animations with a reflection hologram placed behind a 15” laptop monitor screen. She appears to swim within the holographic soup bowl that straddles the plane of the computer screen. (See animation at http://www.ontogenetic.org/soupe.html.)

The SPIE Holography Technical Group chaired by Mike Klug met during the evening of January 20th. There was a great deal of discussion about the conference scheduling dates of Electronic Imaging (EI) and Photonics West (PW). Many of those attending Practical Holography want to visit the exhibits featured at the Photonics West conference which doesn’t open until the week after Electronic Imaging. Therefore many are obliged to attend both conferences or choose one over the other. The attendance to Practical Holography appeared to be lower this year due to this conflict, as well as the difficulty some speakers had obtaining visas from Korea, China and the former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. The Photonics West conference is by far the bigger event with an attendance in excess of 14,000 this year and 800 exhibitors, while Electronic Imaging attracted around 1500 participants and a small number of exhibits. Voters apparently hoped to resolve the issue with a vote requesting to remain with EI while both conferences take place concurrently, EI in Santa Clara and Photonics West in nearby San Jose. This would give groups like Practical Holography the option of visiting the vast array of exhibits.

At the close of the meeting, a moment of silence was held for the extraordinary figures in holography who died during 2003. As previously mentioned, the conference was a tribute to Dr. Benton, the inventor of the rainbow hologram who died in November. He was preceded by Dr. Pal Greguss inventor of the acoustic hologram and panoramic annular lens (PAL). Artist and innovator Jerry Pethick, who held the patent for the sand table stability system and who was a founder of the San Francisco School of Holography died in July, followed by Peter Nicholson, artist, inventor and pioneer of pulse laser holography, in December.

To see pictures of the SPIE event, visit: SPIE (spie.org) at
http://electron icimaging.org/program/04/

The proceedings of the conference are dedicated to Steve Benton, with a rainbow colored cover, and an embossed Toppan rainbow hologram of Steve on the inside cover (http://electronicimaging.org/program/04/index.cfm? fuseaction=proceedings).

SPIE also has a CD-ROM of all Benton-edited Proceedings of the annual holography conferences he chaired, with the Toppan hologram on the jacket (http://bookstore.spie.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=DetailCDROM&productid =551655).

Footnote

^*This article was completed in March 2004, but was seemingly lost in ‘cyberspace’ till May. Apologies to all — Editor.

Andrew Pepper
mail@apepper.com

About the author
Andrew is an artist working with light and holography. A Fulbright and Lionel Robbins Scholar, he received his PhD for research into Fine Art holography at the university of Reading, UK. He is a visiting lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, UK, and director of the Shearwater Foundation Holography Program, USA. His solo exhibition, “UK Spaces” is on show at the Butler Institute of American Art, USA. Website: http://www.apepper.com.
^∗The full Benton Vision meeting can be viewed at: http://www.media.mit.edu/events/benton-vision.html.

During the heady days of the late 1970’s and early 80’s holography was the new buzzword, the ultimate visual medium. It had everything: lasers, three dimensions, mystery, danger, complexity and visual impact beyond anything we had seen before. It was also quite good at making the most mundane objects look interesting. No wonder then that the band wagon almost collapsed with a rush to climb on it. TV producers loved it. The scientists looked so “scientific” in their white coats and “Flash Gordon” laboratories. The artists looked so “artistic” in their smocks and makeshift holographic studios.

The massive lines of eager visitors to holography exhibitions, around the world, was tangible evidence that “people were interested”. Once it was clear that very few of the protagonists would be making personal fortunes, and digital imaging became cheaper and simpler, things cooled. Techniques and processes were guarded, particularly in the commercial, design and art sectors where publishing research results is not the norm. The general impression was that the holographic cake was of a restricted size and quite a few people wanted the largest slice of it – human nature!

That is not to say that work in the field stopped. The optical scientists and researchers continued to expand the technology and answer many questions. The artists and designers created and researched because they were “driven”, or to make their clients happy. The process and the resulting medium expanded enormously, embracing the digital world. Photons and electrons were becoming part of the same imaging process. Things settled, calmed, matured. That was the 90’s.

Now that we have survived into a new millennium, there is “something in the air”. Interest in holography, and particularly visual holography, appears to be increasing. Respected museums around the world are purchasing holographic art. Not much, it has to be said, but they are buying work which fits into their collections, and because they feel it is significant and important. The American Shearwater Foundation, which supports creative holography projects, continues to receive many more applications for funding than its annual budget can support. Artist-in-residence programs are offering a sensitive environment for people to create new work. Packaging, printing and security products are in almost every area of our lives now, just check your pocket or bag for the number of holograms in it. People appear to be interested again. Conferences and international symposia continue to attract plenty of attendees. There is a sense of “renewal”, perhaps even renaissance, and no clearer could that have been than on 11th November 2004.

Benton Vision, held at MIT’s Media Laboratory, was pivotal. Held to honour Stephen Benton, it was an overwhelmingly sad event, because Steve was not there to be embarrassed by the intense show of respect, but there was also an underlying feeling of renewed enthusiasm.

Hundreds of people made their way to Boston to celebrate Steve’s life and work. Friends, family, colleagues, scientists, artists, writers, academics, fellows, entrepreneurs, students and philanthropists jammed into the Media Lab, and many who could not make it, were thinking about him on the eleventh. All of these people had, in some way, been influenced by Steve. It is difficult to imagine that anyone could have persuaded such a diverse group of personalities to be in the same room at the same time. Steve did and the room was bursting.

It is a fitting tribute that such an unusual group wanted to attend, and an even greater tribute that many wanted it to be a “start” rather than an “end”. There were numerous conversations that evening, and in following days, about feelings of excitement. Of wanting to start something new, fresh. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that those involved with holography have matured. Many felt that being there was a little like the “family” coming back together again. Several of those who could not be there, felt that they were, somehow, missing a family reunion and perhaps they were right. Like a mature family, it is clear that not everyone will “get on” all of the time: that they will argue, fall out, stop sending Christmas cards, make up, and sometimes miss each other.

Steve passed on a great deal of his knowledge, through published papers, personal contact and his teaching. Perhaps, as a mature family (albeit conceptual) we will be able to follow Steve’s lead and support the new generations of eagerly smiling individuals excited by the possibilities of holography in all its forms. The world will be a much less interesting place without Stephen Benton, but some of the things he showed us might spark new enthusiasm, make the memories of him more vibrant and encourage the tenuous family to show the new generation “how to do it”.

Pearl John
mail@pearljohn.co.uk

About the author
Pearl received an MA in Holography from the Royal College of Art in 1992. she presently works for the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton, UK, and is involved in the education of schoolchildren in laser technology and its applications. She continues her holographic art in a studio at the University. Pearl is the recipient of this year’s Shearwater Foundation’s Art Holography award.
Websites: http://www.pearljohn.co.uk, http://www.bowieart.com.

There is currently an international shortage in both skilled photonics workers and students taking science subjects. However, there are a number of initiatives aimed at addressing these shortages. The Columbia Career Center high school SPIE chapter in Missouri, USA, has recently created an educational CD-ROM to teach holography to students, to interest them in following career paths in optics and photonics.

The Columbia Career Center has a three-year Photonics program and is geared toward training 15–18 year old students to become Laser Electro-Optical Technicians (LEOTs). Holography has been used successfully in educational institutions as a motivational tool for students and a vehicle for the teaching of a wide variety of skills [1]. These include problem solving, teamwork, safety, communication, research, mathematics, analysis of data, documentation, equipment handling, and knowledge of light theory, which involves the principals of reflection, refraction, diffraction, interference and polarization. All of these skills are essential to the photonics industry and, as a result, holography is considered by the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD) [2] to be a national photonics skill standard for LEOTs.

Training in holography – using both simple and advanced techniques and equipment – prepares students for a variety of vocations involving laser technology. However, the teaching of holography can be beneficial at many different levels of education, including middle and high school students, college students and interested adults. In a testimonial to Shoebox Holography on the web site of Frank DeFreitas – http://www.holoworld.com/holo/diode.html – communications technology educator Bill Pugh notes that students benefit from learning holography in school because:

The Science, Math, and Technology they learn from the process become meaningful to them. It has also been useful to build teamwork in the classroom. I have been teaching for 23 years and this is the best classroom tool I have seen in years.

Figure 1

One of the most important aspects of learning holography and making a hologram is that it gives the student something to walk away with in hand, physical proof of their new-found skill and knowledge. Students can show their peers or parents their achievements, reinforcing their confidence in their accomplishment.

Figure 2

Holograms can now be produced successfully using laser pointers and this has revolutionized the teaching of holography in the classroom. Teachers are now able to afford pointers rather than the more expensive helium-neon lasers. Holograms can now be made inexpensively as a result not only of developments in laser technology, but also in holographic film technology and chemistry. While the above-mentioned CD-ROM was being developed, Professor Tung Jeong of Lake Forest, Chicago, published a new development/plate combination, which allowed for the production of many more holograms, more cheaply and easily than ever before. This information is available on his website: http://www.holokits.com/a-teaching˙holography.htm and is included in the “Making Holograms” CD-ROM.

There is now an opportunity to increase the number of people learning and teaching photonics/optics using holography. In the UK holography can be used as an activity to teach the physics behind light and optics while adhering to the National Curriculum for Physics and Applied Science at GCSE, AS and A’ level.

During March 2003, the Columbia Career Center’s fifteen or so SPIE high school chapter members, in conjunction with the University of Missouri, ran a Saturday science holography project. 43 holograms were made in two hours with approximately thirty 13 year-old students from local schools. Production of this quantity of holograms during an educational outreach activity would not have been possible without the chemical/plate combination recommended by Jeong [3].

Another, more far-reaching, project to inspire students’ interest in science, specifically optics and photonics which Professor Jeong and I have been involved with is SPIE’s and the Optical Society of America’s (OSA’s) Hands-On Optics (HOO) Project: Making an Impact with Light. We submitted a lesson plan to teach holography in informal education settings, to thousands of students across the States. A $1.7 million grant was applied for and awarded by the National Science Foundation in the USA. The HOO program unites the SPIE and the OSA with key industry partners, Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO).

HOO is a three-year informal science program designed to bring optics education to tens of thousands of under-represented students nationwide. The program will focus on connecting optics industry volunteers with teachers and individual students. The program will reach out to females and minority groups who are typically not adequately represented in the science and technology workforce. Sample activities include building a kaleidoscope, building a pinhole camera, and creating holograms. The HOO module will consist of optics-related programs that will take place after school, during weekend sessions, and at summer camps or family workshops.

Elizabeth Rogan, executive director of OSA said “Our goal with HOO is to enhance science education for these populations and to foster an interest in science, which may open doors to futures these students had never considered.”

Funds provided through the HOO grant will also make possible extensive training for teachers, parents and optics professionals, all of whom will play various leadership roles within the HOO activities. Development of the pilot program is scheduled to begin early this year. Expansion toward a national program will take place in 2006. NOAO will play a key role in training teachers and volunteers, and in developing the optics kits.

The first meeting of the HOO National Advisory Board for Hands-On Optics is taking place in San Jose, CA on January 25 during Photonics West.

HOO needs help in order to make the program a success. Input regarding successful ideas, materials and kits to help the program are welcome and encouraged. Suggestions and input are especially welcome in the following areas: lasers, fiber optics, and optical communication, digital and pinhole cameras, holography, geometrical optics, optical illusions and vision, color, filters, interference, and polarization, light sources and optical materials.

The Hands-On Optics program will need volunteer optics experts in the classroom to help educators make the most of the optics education experience. The volunteers will assist educators with use of the optics kits and will add a real-world view of optics. Volunteers could also help by organizing shadowing days and tours of optics-related workplaces in the community. HOO is also looking for business support – sustainable program impact and expansion is dependant on industry support. Industry can partner with HOO programs and schools in a number of different ways including providing publicity, human resources, facility tours and workplace introductions, financial and material contributions, etc. Companies can become a HOO site – The HOO program includes all types of informal science education opportunities including those at science centers, museums, scouting events, club activities and other educationally enriching programs.

HOO is looking to partner with individuals and organizations that can contribute to the educational vision, and resources. People interested in broadening and deepening the educational impact on students through the sharing ideas or materials with the HOO program can contact Jason Briggs at the OSA (jbrigg@osa.org).

I hop that educational projects such as the “Making Holograms” CD-ROM and the HOO program will inspire students’ interest in the kind of work that we holographers do. I also hope that captivating students with holography will help address the falling numbers taking science subjects and therefore the shortage of skilled photonics workers.

References

[1]    P. John and E. Poché 2002 Making Holograms in the Classroom: OE Reports April http://oemagazine.com/fromTheMagazine/apr02/edu.html

[2]    CORD, National Photonics Skills Standards, Photonics Spectra, Pittsfield.  Mass. 1995

[3]    T. H. Jeong, Riley Aumiller, Raymond Ro and Jeff Blythe Teaching Holography in Classrooms Making Holograms with PFG-03 Plates with JD-4 http://www.holokits.com/a-teaching˙holography.htm

[4]    SPIE/OSA HOO press release

Useful site

Professor Tung Jeong’s Holokits website can be found at:
http://www.holokits.com/a-simple˙holography.htm