Last year, Japanese electronics company, Pioneer, finished development on its small size full color hologram printer and has now decided to use this technology to create 3-D holographic prints of babies’ faces while they’re still in the womb. According to a YouTube video detailing this brand new service, “When expecting mothers receive ultrasounds during physical examinations, 3-D images of the unborn child are taken. We can translate that data into a physical form and create a commemorative photo for parents to keep, in anticipation of the upcoming birth.”

Using Pioneer’s new equipment, it’s easy for pretty much anyone to produce beautiful Lippmann holograms, not just the shiny cellophane patterns that you see on wrapping paper. Producing a card-sized full-color holographic picture takes approximately two hours, while monochromatic cards take only 90 minutes to render and print.

“Up until now, creating this sort of 3-D image required one to make a physical model of the photo’s subject and shine light on it from two separate angles. While this new printing technique may still seem like a large undertaking because it requires use of a dark room and special equipment, creating a real-life model is no longer necessary. The same results can be achieved using a simple computer design program.”

Pictures are printed on a high-grade holographic film called Bayfol® HX, created by the polymer production company Bayer Material Science. The holograms are printed systematically at 300 by 200 units (card-sized) and are visible at an angle of up to 25 degrees, both up and down and left to right, creating 60 different points of view all around.

“A beam of light is shone onto the film based on a chart documenting all points of reference for each area of the picture subject. Wherever that light interferes with a reference light shone from the back side of the film, a mark is made. In this way, the card is systematically filled and a single hologram is created.”

We’re told that Lippmann holograms are best viewed under white light. The pictures being showcased in the project’s promotional video below are displayed in special card cases and jewelry boxes containing white LED lights. These pieces come highly recommended as souvenirs of pregnancy and childbirth, because nothing screams life-long keepsake like the holographic face of your unborn fetus.

Source: Net Lab