In the August Holography News® (HN) edition of ‘Then and Now’, I highlighted the role that holograms have played in protecting banknotes from counterfeiting. Looking through the archives of HN I note that at about the same time as the first hologram on a banknote was reported there was an article titled ‘Upper Deck Hits Home Run with Holography’ which told one of the many stories about applications of holograms on trading cards – a phenomenon that took the US by storm in the late 1980s early 90s.

ChatGPT is an artificial-intelligence (AI) chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. It’s come under some negative scrutiny recently and is currently banned in Italy pending a data protection investigation.

Based in Stafford, and distributed through a US facility, Hololollies are lollipop candies made with hologram technology. Each Holololly candy is laser etched with stars, skulls or other images creating an illusion that seems to leap out at the viewer. The lollies are safe to eat, with no dyes, colourings, or additives in the holograms.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone who has seen Disney movies or visited any of their theme parks that the corporation takes holograms – both physical and digital – very seriously. The love affair between Disney and holograms goes back more than 40 years and shows no sign of breaking up.

Across the world, mints continue to recognise the eye-catching appeal of holograms for their commemorative coin programmes for the collectors’ market, says Dr Paul Dunn, chair of the IHMA.

Holography News™ has been a keen follower of the formation and progress of the HoloCenter. With news of the center’s relocation and activities, Executive Director Linda Law brings us up to date on the art’s scene in the US and beyond.

In this tale of creation, destruction and hope, holographic artist Ed Wesly relates the story of how his installation of holographic tiles for a festival in Chicago was commissioned, installed and then quickly vandalised… and what he’s going to do about it.

Editor Francis Tuffy provides an update on the creation of the holographic sculptures of his daughters by Dr Ioana Pioaru.

Anyone who has been involved with holography for any length of time will have had periods of frustration with the technology. But the story of a Japanese man who literally fell out of love with his hologram wife is taking things to extremes.

The first time I encountered Dr Ioana Pioaru’s work with holographic sculptures was during my visit to Geola’s research labs in the UK for an interview with Prof David Brotherton-Ratcliffe – founder of the Geola Group. Ioana is artist-in-residence at the research facility and her studio is on the second floor above Geola’s OptoLab.