Do you want to know how to make a holographic projector? You’re in luck! It’s not as hard as you might think. With just a few materials and a little bit of elbow grease, you can have your very own holographic projector. For such purpose, we suggest GuidedReview where you can get the latest updates. So let’s get started!
Step By Step Guide:
- The first step is to make a hologram of the object:
You want to project. You can do this by printing out a picture of the object, tapping it onto some acetate, and shining light through it. The more light you let in the better your image will be. If you don’t have any acetate handy, you can always use clear plastic wrap or even wax paper to make a hologram.
- The second step is the most important step. You need to buy a 2 inch diameter acrylic sphere or clear paperweight. If you want, you can build your own using clear epoxy resin and some glitter; I won’t tell if you don’t! Anything that has a roughly spherical shape will work for this project.
- Next, you need to get your image projector. You can use any small device that projects an image, but for this project I suggest using something with a nice long cord so that you have enough room to put the paper weight between the projector and the wall/screen.
- The last thing you will need is some tape. Scotch or masking tape will do just fine for this project.
- Put your image projector on a table or desk in front of the wall you are projecting the hologram onto. Make sure it is about 10 to 20 feet away from the wall and place your paperweight between the projector and the wall; make sure it’s not touching anything! Now turn on your projector and make sure it’s shining through the paperweight and onto the wall. Now turn off all the lights in the room and watch your hologram!
You can use a laser or LED light for this:
You can pick any point on the wall and the hologram will stay there:
This was my first attempt at making a holographic projector! I originally wanted to make a more complicated model with lenses and everything, but this is surprisingly effective for such a simple project. If you want to see some other designs or different types of holograms, check out the links below.
Have fun!
The next step is to make an acrylic plate:
With two sides, one with the original image and one with a mirror image. I used acrylic because it is clear and thin. Acrylic can be cut with an Exacto knife or laser cutter. You should make sure to use a thin piece, about 1/4inch thick.
After cutting the acrylic plate, glue the mirrored side onto the paperweight sphere so that when light passes through both sides of the acrylic, it will form an image on the wall. You can use any type of glue for this.
If you are using a small projector, you might need to add some weight to the other side so that the projected image is in focus. All that means is that your paperweight needs to be heavy enough that the sphere stays in place under its own weight. This is where the acrylic plate comes in handy because you can glue some more stuff onto it if necessary.
A few things that will work for this are marbles or beads! Just make sure that whatever you use is heavy enough to balance out with the projector on the other side.
Illusion creation:
When these two plates are put together, they create an illusion that makes it look like there’s actually something in between them. The shape and size of the paperweight determines what kind of illusion you get, so play around with different shapes and sizes!
One last thing:
If you want to make a really awesome holographic projector, try using a laser instead of an LED or projector. It works much better than the other types. I think it’s because lasers are coherent, meaning their waves are all in phase with each other. Lasers also have a nice pure monochromatic color that is easy to see.
You can get a laser at Radio Shack or Harbor Freight really cheap! Just make sure you don’t burn your house down. If you’re more comfortable working with lasers, check out the Instructable on how to make a holographic laser projector. It has more pictures and is really easy to build.
To finish off your projector, all you need to do is place it in front of any surface and turn on its light! The image will look like it is actually on the surface! This effect works best in a dim room, where there’s no light other than the light from the projector.
Now just aim your laser pointer at your projected hologram and see how it looks! You should get some really nice results that look like 3D objects floating in mid-air!
Warning:
Please be very careful when using lasers around other people. Even low-powered lasers can cause damage to the eyes if looked at directly.
That’s all for this tutorial! If you have any questions or comments, let me know in the section below. Thanks for checking out my projects and I hope you enjoy making your own holograms!
