SALT LAKE CITY — The future of 3-D technology is getting closer.

A team of University of Utah electrical and computer engineers has developed a way to create full-color, 2-D and 3-D holograms that can eventually be used in a wide range of applications, including identification badges, credit cards and currency.

Led by electrical and computer engineering associate professor Rajesh Menon, researchers developed holograms that are more realistic, brighter and could be viewed at wider angles than current holograms.

“You can have rich colors at high efficiency, with high brightness and at low cost," he said. "And you don’t need fancy lasers and complicated optics."

He explained that the projection of any image, whether 2- or 3-D, is inefficient because when white light shines on an object, the human eye can only see the reflected color that bounces back to the eye while the rest of the colors of the spectrum are absorbed — resulting in a lot of wasted light. With a typical LCD projector, for example, you may only see as little as 5 percent of the total light at one time, he noted.

"For instance, if you go to a museum and see a hologram, they tend to be one color," Menon explained. "A hologram has to be illuminated with some light so you can see it. We were able to create a hologram that can give true color, so the image can look realistic."

Menon and his team discovered a way that borrows from the same principle behind how wings of certain butterflies display their colors. Instead of reflecting only the colors you see while absorbing the rest, all of the white light is redirected so you see the wavelengths of the wing’s colors at different locations. None of the light is absorbed and wasted, he noted.

Using sophisticated algorithms, the engineers can create holograms that do the same thing — redirect colors to appropriate locations — to project much brighter photographic images either in 2-D or 3-D with full, natural colors. Currently, full-color holograms require lasers to not only create them, but to also view them.

Menon said his holograms can be viewed with regular white light and — most importantly — they can be viewed from any angle with no change in image detail, much like a real object.

“Projecting an image before was very inefficient, and you need a massive lamp,” Menon said. “Here, you can just do it with just a piece of plastic and a flashlight. It’s much simpler and more efficient this way.”

He said the technology could be used on currency notes with security holograms that produce more life-like images. Currently, holograms on some foreign currency or on credit cards look like shimmering monochromatic images, he explained, but the new holograms would resemble full-color photographs.

The technology could also be used for identification badges, drivers’ licenses and security documents like passports, Menon noted. Typically, an officer could simply use a flashlight to authenticate security documents or badges with the new techology rather than an infrared scanner as is now required.

He added that the new holograms would be inexpensive to make because they could duplicate each sticker using a process similar to making compact discs or DVDs. Thus far, the team has only produced 2-D still images with the technology, but getting to the next step of creating full-color 3-D moving images would not be too difficult, Menon said.

He said the holograms could be used in entertainment, such as for virtual reality headsets for movie theaters — effectively eliminating the need for powerful projector lamps and could be an avenue for 3-D movies without special glasses, or for amusement rides that use high-tech special effects.

“Imagine going through a ride and you want a monster to jump out," Menon queried. "This is a way to do that with much richer color, with higher efficiency and in a much more ubiquitous manner because it’s so cheap."

The technology could also be used to produce holographic photos or video for advertising for platforms like billboards or kiosks, he said. Moving 3-D video could be possible in as little as two years, he said.

Menon launched a company called PointSpectrum that is researching the new technology and ways to commercialize its potential uses. The team’s technology is profiled in the current issue of Scientific Reports.