3D 'holographic' display seems to have ripped off patented technology (w/ Video)

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this past January, one of the more intriguing technologies was a 3D hologram-like display developed by Taiwan-based Innovision Labs. Called HoloAD, the glasses-free display can create 3D images in a glass pyramidal chamber that seems like a perfect tool for cutting-edge advertising.

Now, a few websites are reporting that HoloAD’s technology seems to be remarkably similar to that developed by the Danish company RealFiction. RealFiction CEO Clas Durholm claims that Innovision blatantly ripped off the technology behind his company’s Dreamoc display, which is protected by several patents in Europe, as well patent applications in Japan and the US. (The patent numbers are 01066278-0001, 001041289-0001, 000852108-0001 and 000835806-0001 in Europe, Patent Application No. 2009-020417 in Japan, and Patent Application No. 29/332,917 in the US.)

Comparing two videos below of RealFiction’s Dreamoc and Innovision’s HoloAD, the displays appear to be nearly identical.

As explained at CES, the HoloAD display works by projecting a set of three independent images onto the trapezoidal sides of the glass pyramid, providing 180 degrees of 3D viewing. Although the system doesn’t use true holographic coding, the image inside the box looks like an animated, full-color hologram. The display can also be integrated with real objects by placing objects in the display and creating a video that blends with the objects.

There is no word on whether RealFiction plans to pursue legal action against Innovision, or even Innovision’s response to the claim of intellectual property theft.