During Coca-Cola’s Final Night Ceremony at the ShoWest Conference & Exhibition, RealD’s CEO Michael Lewis presented their Innovation in 3D award to Jim Cameron and Jon Landau of Lightstorm Entertainment for AVATAR. The commissioned RabbitHoles holographic awards are the first 3-dimensional imagery ever printed of AVATAR and publicly displayed, created by Weta Digital in collaboration with RabbitHoles Media. The 3D print depicts AVATAR’s Neytiri, crouched in the Pandora jungle, bow drawn, as an ethereal Sprite alights onto the tip of her arrow. As viewers interact with the print, they experience true-3D perspectives on the Sprite’s action, Neytiri’s awestruck expression, and the rich jungle environment as it reveals around her in nearly 180-degrees. Following the ceremony, attendees flowed to the front of the room to shake hands, interact with the AVATAR holograms, and capture photos and videos of the experience (keep an eye out on YouTube!).

Several thousand people were in attendance, including studio executives from 20th Century Fox, Disney/Pixar, Warner Bros, Paramount/Dreamworks, Universal, Sony, as well as independent production houses Summit, Laika, and Legendary. Other ShoWest award winners present included actors Sam Worthington (Avatar / Clash of the Titans / Terminator Salvation), Kathryn Heigel (Knocked Up / 27 Dresses / The Ugly Truth), Amanda Seyfried (MammaMia / Dear John / Letters to Juliet) and Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon of Sex and The City, as well as directors Jay Roach (Meet the Parents / Austin Powers / Borat) and Todd Phillips (The Hangover / Old School / Due Date), and producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean / Top Gun / The Rock). The event also hosted worldwide theatre exhibitors AMC Theatres, Regal, Cinemark, and Rave Motion Pictures among many others, as well as technology and service companies like Deluxe Digital, RealD, Dolby, IMAX, and Technicolor that cater to the movie exhibition industry, and especially to the emergence of the digital 3D movie-going experience.

Coinciding with the launch of Radio Canada’s Spring television season, Vox Populi, the producer of the successful Quebec satirical cartoon Et Dieu Créa…Laflaque, commissioned RabbitHoles Media to produce a 3D motion hologram of the show’s main character, Gérard D. Laflaque. The Rabbitholes® hologram depicts the affable character winking to his audience and giving a thumbs-up to passers-by. It has been permanently installed in the Montreal lobby of the CBC’s Radio Canada head office, where it is used to welcome employees and guests. According to the cartoon’s creator, Serge Chapleau, and the team producing the show, this holographic print is a logical extension of the 3D creative process, providing Vox Populi a new avenue to introduce its characters to the public. More projects to depict additional characters from the hit series are under discussion.

RealD, the world’s leading supplier of 3D projection systems in movie theatres, commissioned RabbitHoles Media to design and craft 3D branding displays for the ShoWest Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas, NV.

The illuminated “jewel cases” feature over-sized replicas of RealD’s signature glasses with RabbitHoles 3D animated holograms acting as their lenses that contain an interactive experience with the techno-dog from RealD’s in-theatre promo trailer.

ShoWest, the world’s largest exhibitor conference, is being held at the Paris & Bally Hotels from March 15 — 18. The RealD 3D displays are lit up in both RealD’s domestic and international sales suites and in ShoWest’s “Hall of Posters”, where upcoming movie attractions are promoted leading into the conference registration and presentation area.

A new page about using holograms for advertising has been published.

Follow this link to see an educational video about rendering and printing Rabbitholes holograms. In the video, the process of generating computer images to print 3d hologram is briefly described.

Please visit our new page about the holograms made by holographer and 3d scientist Jacques Desbiens

From February 27 to March 7, 2010 the Montréal Science Center hosted over 16,000 visitors at its annual technology fair, entitled TECHNOFOLLIES 2010. Along with renowned companies like Electronic Arts, UbiSoft, Samsung and others, Rabbit Holes Media Inc. displayed its interactive digital holographic indoor advertising medium. Assisting with the display, RabbitHoles’ creative consultants were on hand to provide information and guidance to parties interested in better understanding how to create compelling 3D images for this exciting new medium. As part of the exhibit, the Montréal Science Center had commissioned its own RabbitHole® image of its iconic red dumbbells that adorn its front steps. RabbitHoles Media Inc. was proud to help sponsor such a connected event that enabled such a diverse audience to dive in and surf the world of digital entertainment.

• 3D/Z-plane :: RabbitHoles are completely flat (0.7mm thick), yet the 3D imagery appears further in front of, and deeper beyond the surface than people imagine is possible.
• Motion :: Using CGI (computer generated imagery) or live-action digital video, RabbitHoles can hold motion sequences up to ten seconds long to tell a short story, or bring a character to life.
• Interactivity :: Viewers’ movement in front of a RabbitHole triggers the immersive and animated content, provided by the image sequence embedded in the surface…up to 1280 frames!

These digital motion holograms are unlike any hologram you’ve ever seen. Classically, holograms have been single-colored or rainbow-like, and limited in their ability to realistically recreate 3D scenes, especially at a large scale; however, RabbitHoles Media utilizes patented printing technology to create bright, full-color holograms. The combination of full-color and 3D imagery with viewer-triggered animation results in unforgettable and engaging viewer experiences.

A RabbitHole works much like flip-book, with an embedded sequence of 1280 digital images acting in place of drawings on pages…using film instead of paper…and the viewers’ thumbs being replaced by the viewers themselves. The digital images each provide a unique perspective of the scene or object that varies gradually from one image to the next.

Then, when viewers move back and forth in front of a RabbitHole, they literally move seamlessly through its 3D “pages”-advancing the images, shifting the perspective, and revealing the complete content by moving around freely at whatever pace they choose, with the power to play with, explore, and take part in experiencing the action.

Technically

Red, green, and blue pulsed-lasers are used to embed a diffraction grating within a small thickness of holographic film. Each digital image in the sequence is divided into a given number of holo-pixels using proprietary algorithms. The holo-pixels are then assigned to their necessary location amongst a given number of rows and columns. This grid of unique holo-pixels is submitted to the Company’s patented printers, which utilize red, green, and blue pulse-lasers to embed the data into the specially formulated emulsion film. The resulting prints must be front-lit from either the top or the bottom at a 45-degree angle by a direct white-light source such as a Halogen fixture or sunlight. With the white-light shining properly on a RabbitHole, the diffraction gratings bounce the light in an extremely specific wavelength, and therefore color, which allows RabbitHoles to reflect full-color images.

click to see video previews

Companies like Bombardier, Audi, Toyota, Puma, and Zeiss Meditec have used RabbitHoles technology to present their product on the trade shows…see these applications and others in our advertising gallery

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Check out the Fall 2009 RabbitHoles Newsletter .

In response to popular demand by 3D artists for affordable ways to print RabbitHoles of their personal artwork, RabbitHoles Media is radically reducing its printer setup and project production fees for artists’ projects.

Join the likes of pioneer 3D Motion Hologram artists Meats Meier, Alex Alvarez, Timur "Taron" Baysal, Aaron Sims, Scott Spencer, Kris Costa, Pascal Blanche, Fred Bastide, Laurent Pierlot, and Jeremy Engleman by creating a RabbitHole of your own!

RabbitHoles® 3D Motion Holograms must be seen to be believed, so RabbitHoles Media offers holographic samples at low prices for interested clients and creators to effectively evaluate the potential of these revolutionary holographic displays.

• Because the 3D industry is booming and here-to-stay, especially in the entertainment world, and high-profile companies are eagerly building their brands and featuring their products in 3D… and, to do so successfully, brand-builders, tastemakers, and image-makers need a hardcopy medium capable of portraying concepts in, well, 3D!
• Because RabbitHoles are interactive and experiential! Viewers do a lot more than stop and look at RabbitHoles, they play with them, they motor back and forth in front of them, making the imagery in the RabbitHoles move as they move, either fast or slow, forward or backward. And, when many viewers experience RabbitHoles at the same time, it can become a messaging appreciation feeding frenzy!
• Because people love to see things in ways they’ve never seen them before, and RabbitHoles 3D Motion Holograms are a truly fresh, innovative, interactive, immersive, and revolutionary way of depicting 3D and moving concepts on a flat surface.

James Cameron – Director of TITANIC and THE TERMINATOR

An entirely new medium, the patented RabbitHoles technology gives image-makers and marketeers a tool that is exponentially more effective than 2D print at attracting and retaining viewer attention. RabbitHoles are being utilized in a wide variety of applications by major players in the entertainment, advertising, and art industries who recognize that RabbitHoles offer a unique 3D interactive messaging opportunity. The fact that 3D is a fast-growing factor in each of these industries is further proof that a new paradigm for visualization has truly emerged; the fact that RabbitHoles have early adopters in each of these industries is further proof that it is a viable and desirable “3D on 2D” print solution.

RabbitHoles 3D Motion Holograms are ideal for environments and applications where brand-builders, tastemakers, and image-makers want to draw heavy eye-capture, and generate distinct exposure…high-profile events and locations where serious budgets are spent seeking attention, communicating, and entertaining, such as trade shows/conventions, theaters, amusement parks (rides & lines), stadiums, shopping malls, product launches, flagship stores, parties, nightclubs, galleries and museums, and other such specialized & controlled environments.

Lights, Camera, Action!

RabbitHoles must be front-lit by a “point source” of white-light at a 45-degree angle from either above or below. Smaller-scale RabbitHoles can be lit with single 50W or 75W MR16 Halogen bulbs, from either track-lighting or off-the-shelf wall-mounted lighting units. Larger-scale prints require larger scale lighting, with either 575W or 750W ETC Halogen units, which are very common stage lights, especially in bigger spaces like large lobbies, trade show/convention centers, airports, shopping malls, etc. The larger the RabbitHole, the greater the lighting distance, and in many cases large-scale and tiled installations allow for the light to be at further and out-of-sight distances, which can enhance the magic of the image appearing on flat surfaces without any obvious illumination source.

Mount Up!

RabbitHoles must be mounted on a rigid surface, usually plexiglas, glass, or metal sheeting. The most common mounting material is reflective black plexiglas because it is lightweight and the black reflective substrate increases the contrast and brightness of RabbitHoles. RabbitHoles can also be mounted to other rigid and reflective surfaces using a black reflective adhesive depending on the surface and environment.

Renowned international advertising, marketing, and public relations agency, Ogilvy & Mather, commissioned five RabbitHoles® 3D Motion Holograms to be the Digital Lab signage in their brand new Headquarters offices in New York, NY.

The 3D animated prints were designed to represent five key offices of the nearly 500 Ogilvy & Mather operates worldwide, featuring Beijing, London, New York, Sao Paulo, and Singapore.

Four of the five holographic prints depict a 3-dimensional Ogilvy Digital Lab logo animating into view, and a 3D city name floating inches off the surface in front of a montage of 2D city images that transition as viewers walk by from either direction. The fifth RabbitHole® is slightly larger and features a larger 3D logo animation occurring simultaneously with a time-lapse sequence of New York City’s Times Square, which highlights the Digital Lab’s Headquarters city.

RabbitHoles Media teamed up with Heavy Metal to unveil limited edition collectibles of Luvisi’s “LUCY” character as RabbitHole® 3D Motion Holograms to promote and merchandise the L.M.S. brand.  The full color holograms depict Lucy as a calm & confident heroine, suspended in a rich 3D environment, falling through a shattered window, while blasting her two submachine guns.

The RabbitHole® 3D prints come in two sizes. Limited Edition #1 consists of 50 14” x 20” prints at $950 each. Limited Edition #2 consists of 100 7’ x 10” prints at $550 each. All prints come framed and include a wall mounted lighting unit.  Simulations of the LUCY RabbitHole can be seen here and purchased through RabbitHoles Media directly.

Meats Meier also created a new “Animation Mother” image (left) in honor of the SIGGRAPH 2009 conference taking place in New Orleans, LA. Both images are available as limited editions from Rabbitholes.