Demystifying the Future of the Screen explores the creation of a 3D representation of volumetric display (a graphical display device that produces 3D objects in mid-air), a technology that doesn’t yet exist in the consumer realm, using current technologies. It investigates the conceptual possibilities and technical challenges of prototyping a future, speculative, technology with current available materials.

Cultural precedents, technical antecedents, economic challenges, and industry adaptation, all contribute to this thesis proposal. It pedals back to the past to examine the probable widespread integration of this future technology.

By employing a detailed horizon scan, analyzing science fiction theories, and extensive user testing, I fabricated a prototype that simulates an immersive volumetric display experience, using a holographic display fan. Its construct was inspired by pre-television optical media like phantasmagoria, Kristian Birkeland’s immersive cathode-ray environments, and NBC’s original news broadcast in the early 1900s. The treatment was influenced by sci-fi film visualizations.