RED Digital Cinema has announced a new partnership with Leia Inc in order to produce the Holographic display for the Hydrogen One. RED is known for its various professional digital cameras, but it recently confirmed it was to enter new territory with the release of its first smartphone, the Hydrogen One, which will be the first to include a holographic display. Thanks to the new partnership, it is now known how the company plans to pull the idea off.
As part of the venture, RED will utilize Leia’s lightfield display technology and software in order to create the new display. Leia recently had significant breakthroughs in Nano-Photonic design and manufacturing, which will allow them to provide holographic displays in a much smaller package. The display will consist of an LCD panel that is able to synthesize the holographic content while maintaining its normal operations. Underneath the LCD panel will be a “light guide plate” that will utilize diffraction of images in order to project the same images at multiple heights and angles, therefore giving the holographic 3D illusion. While the new technology will obviously require more power than a conventional display, it is said that battery life will not be greatly affected. RED notes that it has also made an investment in Leia, which will see RED’s founder Jim Jannard join Leia’s board of directors, suggesting that further collaborations between the two companies could be on the table. Nonetheless, focusing on the current collaboration, the companies expected the smartphone to be available to consumers in the first half of 2018.
Other than the fact that the Hydrogen One will include a 5.7-inch holographic display, not much is known about the device. So far, the camera company has confirmed that the device will include a modular design, allowing users to stack different mods on top of the device, with more than one being permitted at a time. Coupled with all of this will be dual-camera setup on the rear alongside a dual-tone flash. In terms of the actual build, RED has confirmed that it will be offering two different options, the first being made from aluminum and costing $1,195, while the second will be created from titanium and will set customers back a whopping $1,595. Nonetheless, it’s currently unknown what internal specifications the device will include but, considering the cost of the smartphone, it’s expected that the Hydrogen One will be included in the high-end spectrum.