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[[File:HologramLeia.jpg|link=Star Wars|frame|Transmit galaxy-wide live 3D? No problem. Use colors other than blue? [[Hologram Projection Imperfection|Not so much]].]]
A staple of both [[Speculative Fiction]] and [[Fantasy]]. Holograms can be created by technological, magical, or psychic means, but are always intangible illusions meant to fool onlookers into seeing something that isn't there. Holograms are thus the preferred tool of the [[Trickster Archetype]] and more specifically the [[Master of Illusion]].
Holograms have a variety of uses, among them being deception, creating a [[Holographic Terminal]], a simulacrum of those long dead or artificial intelligences. The exact nature and properties of holograms vary between works, but for purposes of trope differentiation and practicality, the one unifying trait they share is intangibility. If they ''do'' have substance, they're [[Hard Light]].
What media commonly identifies as a hologram is not actually a [
'''Among their possible traits are:'''
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* '''Emitter:''' Though common, many eschew this entirely. Instead of an emitter all you need is a powerful enough computer or piece of [[Phlebotinum]] with a monitor to make a hologram. If they do have an emitter, it will almost invariably be a [[Data Crystal]] or [[Power Crystal]].
* '''Range:''' Usually it's unlimited. Only rarely are they limited to a line of sight to their emitter, frequently they act as independent autonomous beings so long as the device is on, no matter how far they go or if there are objects in between.
* '''[[Glamour Failure]]:''' Despite often being the photonic equivalent of [[Deceptively
* '''Stuttering and Static:''' Related to [[Glamour Failure]], holgrams generally [[Hologram Projection Imperfection|fizz, pop, stutter and show other signs of malfunctioning]] right out of the box, though, for some reason, none of the users ever seems to notice this. For examples see [[Hologram Projection Imperfection]].
* '''Clipping:''' Because they're intangible, people and objects can and will (hilariously) pass through them. Some holograms might have a "rendering failure" while so abused and go static-y, others might simply act annoyed, and some will gleefully stick their heads through walls like ghosts to see what's on the other side. Again, don't expect interposed objects to affect the emitter.
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* '''Integrated Camera:''' A hologram AI or projected image of another person can usually see through the hologram's eyes, regardless of if a camera installed near the emitter would be limited in what it can see. It's usually understood that holographic technology can somehow not just project light but "[[Screens Are Cameras|see]]" everything in its vicinity.
See also [[Kiss Me, I
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* Used quite often in the later ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]]'' series, usually in combination with [[Idol Singer
** In ''[[Macross Plus]]'', the virtual idol Sharon Apple (whose processor unit is a [[2001: A Space Odyssey
** In ''[[Macross Frontier]]'', [[The Ojou|Sheryl Nome]] typically performs her songs wearing a full-body holo-suit onto which a variety of costumes are projected (from the [[Stripperiffic]] to the [[Pimped
*** In a [[Shout
== [[Comics]] ==
* The [[Spider
* When [[Alan Moore]]'s [[
{{quote|
* In one of [[Yoko Tsuno]]'s stories, "The Prey And The Shadow", {{spoiler|a girl named Margaret is forced to become the model for one of these, for reasons that her boss won't disclose. Fearing for her life and that of another girl whom she's impersonated, Margaret decides to latch on the titular [[Action Girl]] for help... and she's got good reasons, since the hologram's a part of a cruel [[Evil Plan]] to get the other girl killed.}}
* Nightcrawler of the X-Men has a device that creates a hologram to let him appear normal, but he rarely uses it.
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* ''[[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension]]'': The black Lectroid leader sends Buckaroo a record player-like device that generates a hologram of herself.
* ''[[Iron Man]]'': Tony Stark has created a holographic drafting table that he uses to design his armor in 3D (aided by his [[Magical Computer]] butler). He can even "wear" the hologram by sticking his arms in.
** A similar holographic design system appears momentarily in [[Cloudy
* ''[[The Last Starfighter]]'': The images Zur projected into the Starfighter base.
* ''[[Outland (
* ''[[Resident Evil]]'': the Red Queen's projected "little girl" image.
* ''[[Star Wars]]: A New Hope'': Princess Leia's image projected out of R2-D2, and the chess pieces in the game between R2-D2 and Chewbacca.
** You can see the evolution of the technology over the course of all six films. In the prequels, holograms are almost exclusively rendered in varying shades of blue. By the time of the original trilogy, they're in color, and much larger (see Vader's massive hologram of the Emperor in ''The Empire Strikes Back'', and R2's larger-than-life hologram of Luke in ''Return of the Jedi'').
* ''[[Superman (
* In ''[[Flubber]]'' the robot Weebo projects a holographic hot girl avatar for herself to fondle the main character in his sleep. It's weirder in context.
* ''Futureworld'' (sequel to ''[[Westworld]]''). Two Delos guests play a chess game using holographic pieces.
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* ''[[Tank Girl]]''. Kesslee's head after his operation.
* ''[[Total Recall]]'' has a device to create a photo realistic hologram that mimics the user. It is used late in the film to trick a bunch of armed guards. There's also a tennis-training hologram that Lori uses to practice her serve.
* ''[[
* ''[[Logan's Run]]''. In the scene where Logan is interrogated about Sanctuary, the main computer creates holograms of his head that express his thoughts.
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* Used to safely simulate monsters, enemy soldiers, weapons and other threats in ''Dream Park'' and its sequels.
* In ''[[Neuromancer]]'', the character Riviera is a showman with the ability to project holograms due to having an emitter implanted in his chest. He has a taste for guro-type shows when onstage, and offstage he's no better. For example, he likes to amplify his experiences in drug use by projecting a scorpion over his hypodermic while shooting up-and to create traffic accidents by projecting the scorpion onto the dashboards of passing vehicles and hoping the driver panics. It is also his [[Chekhov's Gun]] although firing it doesn't quite get the result he was hoping for. {{spoiler|the other characters recognize immediately that a hologram is a controlled laser, and could be used as a laser weapon just strong enough to [[Eye Scream|fry a retina over-easy, as the Finn puts it]]. Riviera eventually uses it as such against the ninja bodyguard Hideo. Unfortunately for Riviera, ninjas are quite skilled at enduring pain and fighting in the dark, so this serves only to make Hideo want to kill Riviera.}}
* ''[[Return From the Stars]]'' has holographic "photos" (a flat piece of paper which displays a holographic face above when unfolded) as well as holographic theatre. [[Fish Out of Temporal Water|The protagonist]] blunders into one such a spectacle, thinking it to be a gathering of real people and attempts to ask the actors for directions before realizing what a spectacle he has just done of himself.
* A commonly used ability of the Chee in ''[[
* The central atrium of the Prometheus Corporation’s HQ in [[The Chronicles of Professor Jack Baling]] has an enormous hologram of Prometheus as its centerpiece.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' in all its incarnations. Of special mention are the Holodecks in ''[[Star Trek:
** Ironically with all their Phlebotinum these both of those neatly avoid a few common problems. The holodecks are self-contained (so they have speakers and can "see" everything) and the doctor uses a mobile emitter.
* Al from ''[[Quantum Leap]]''.
* Rimmer in [[
* Becoming implausibly common on present-day detective procedurals, including ''[[Bones]]'' and ''[[CSI New York]]''. Most police departments can barely afford toner for copiers, yet the lab rats still get ''this'' to play with?
** ''[[Bones]]'' did eventually phase out the absurd holographic rendering device (and it's been lampshaded that the [[Fictional Counterpart|Jeffersonian Institute]] has much nicer equipment than your average police station).
*** There is actually a way to project an image mid air like this, though it requires lasers so powerful they'd start fires. The process also (sometimes) produces gasses that might turn the fluid in your eyes to acid.
*
* ''[[
* In ''[[
* Actual holograms (as in, not volumetric displays) show up a handful of times in ''[[
** The technomages play the trope straight, creating volumetric displays with no visible emitters, possibly crossing the line into [[Hard Light]].
* ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'' has concealed hologram projectors as part of the team's arsenal since the later seasons in the 60s series. The 80s revival uses them even more frequently and even has an episode named after the trope.
== [[Tabletop RPG]] ==
* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' supplement ''The Fungi from Yuggoth''. The Yithian Communicator is a device the Yithians of the distant past use to communicate through time. The device has a red jewel that projects an image (presumably using laser light) of the Yithian itself.
* ''[[Dungeons
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Used very often in the ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' series. Planets are commonly projected for navigation purposes and in the Aurora Units frequently relay messages in this form.
* Cortana from the ''[[Halo]]'' franchise is a holographic AI in the image of a woman. The [[Halo: Reach|latest game]] in the franchise also features holograms you can deploy to distract your enemies.
** In [[
* In ''[[Destroy All Humans!]]'', Crypto's commander, Orthopox, uses a holographic projector called a Holo Pox Unit to communicate with Crypto from the mothership.
* Sega's ''[[Time Traveller]]'' notoriously claimed to be a hologram game when it wasn't--it was basically a flat image suspended in midair using mirrors.
* Holograms in ''The Crystal Key'' look and act exactly like the one in the fourth ''[[Star Wars]]'' movie (fittingly for a game where the villain is obviously meant to be Darth Vader.) They're all [[Apocalyptic Log
* In ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]]'' Kay's 'Little Thief' computer was used to project holographic recreations of crime scenes.
* Ridiculously common in ''[[Dead Space (
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' has holograms for VI interfaces and communication. They are usually limited to a single colour at one time.
* ''[[
* During the Space phase of ''[[Spore]]'', players can buy a hologram emitter that will project a representation of the ship's Captain onto a planet's surface. Anything the hologram "grabs" is transported into the ship's hold.
* After beating ''[[
** In ''[[Rock Man 4 Minus Infinity]]'', the same thing happened with Wave Man and Crash Man.
* The [[
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Galatea's [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20090822.html hologram hat] in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]].''
* ''[[Dreamwalk Journal]]'' and sequels have telispheres, which look like decorative glass globes when not in use, and transmit and receive holographic images apparently via some kind of quantum effect.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[Arthur (
* Synergy projects Holograms from Jerrica's star earrings in ''[[Jem and The Holograms]]''
* [[Scooby Doo]] loved these. Villains often used projectors (holographic or otherwise) to make their act seem more genuine.
* [[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]] has holograms, coming in both a [[Star Wars a New Hope|blue]], full-body, full-size projection that's, and a small, flat, orange head-only projection that is emitted from a villain's communication wristband.
* On ''[[Jimmy Two
* Like his comic counterpart, Nightcrawler in
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Believe it or not, [[Vocaloid]]
** Erm, same tech was used to bring [[Gorillaz]] to the real world for [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCQCyZoI3SU an MTV award a few years ago?]
** ''No'', this stuff is ''not'' holographic in any sense ([[You Keep Using That Word|kinda the point of this very article]]...). Hatsune Miku live used common [
*** Well, if that's the case, don't tell the Brits that what they have aren't true holographic projectors either: [http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/15917702\]
* Whatever the wretched [[Mega Corp]] advertisements would like to tell you, the truth is that there are ''no'' commercially available (or even ''technologically viable'') volumetric holograms available. The only "true" VH that this troper has seen proof of is [https://web.archive.org/web/20140401031941/http://www.aist.go.jp/aist_e/latest_research/2006/20060210/20060210.html this] technology press release from 2006. Everything else is either a cheap 3D cinema effect (with or without glasses), a spinning mirror, an image in a glass cube or an image projected in a thick cloud of ''water vapor'' (believe it or not those things are actually being sold, water sprinklers and all). Furthermore, the technological principles required to project an image on ''nothing'' are unclear at best.
** Note that the water vapor method still results in a 2D image.
** A real 3D hologram can show any static object from a limited view angle (behind the glass) with decent quality. These images, however, are not nearly good enough to be widely used as tools, unless a given task requires an element too tricky to mass-produce "for real" and a narrow spectral bandwidth is acceptable; an image e.g. of a big, expensive telescope mirror could work well enough to demonstrate the concept and be cheaper than the real thing, but in every way that matters (especially light losses) would be worse than a smaller real mirror of comparable cost. Thus the main practical use so far is to provide a visual sample of an object when it's risky, expensive or plain impossible to display the original - it's mainly good for museums and some art galleries.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Futuristic Tech Index]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:
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