Since it was first published in 1987, Holography News® has charted the course of holography’s progress, from a laboratory-based optical technique for recording, storing, and replaying wavefronts, to a term that means a whole lot more. While still being a technology in its own right, it has worked its way into the public consciousness as an auxiliary technology in a whole raft of new applications.

As I step down as the editor of this publication, I’m looking back on our journey over the past three years. In September 2020, I introduced myself as the incoming editor, and now, as time completes its circle, I’m passing the baton to the next editor of Holography News® (HN).

In the inaugural column of ‘Then and Now’ in June’s edition of Holography News®, which looked at the birth of automotive production model heads-up displays, I dropped in a tantalising snippet from the May 1988 edition of HN that chronicled the beginning of what has since become the single largest commercial application for holography of all time.

Reconnaissance International has embarked on a major exercise to archive the back catalogue of Holography News®. The task, which is nearing completion, was to add digitised versions of the paper publications for the years 1987-2003 (for which we are indebted to Prof Hans Bjelkhagen for the loan of his library of HN newsletters) to the existing digital versions of later years that had been collated by former editor, Ian Lancaster.

If the industry needed further evidence that holographic technology is in a strong and healthy condition, it need look no further than the range and quality of nominations for the ‘Excellence in Holography 2022 Awards’, which were presented at The Holography Conference Online in December 2022.

Holography scientists, technologists and artists alike are often guilty of bemoaning the (mis)use of the term ‘holography’ to describe augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) displays such as HoloLens. But is there a case to say that depictions of holograms on film, TV and other ‘flat’ media have actually foreseen, and perhaps motivated, developments in 3D imaging techniques?

Editor Francis Tuffy explores holographic principles used to model scientific theory.