Everything is illuminated: holograms in the corporate showroom

What is magic in films becomes a tool in showrooms: hologram-like technologies attract attention, explain complex content spatially and create unforgettable brand moments. The decisive factor here is not the effect – but the impact on visitors, dialogues and decisions. We explain which hologram technologies offer real added value for corporate showrooms.

Holograms fascinate viewers and visitors

You can see the fear, the nervousness, but also the hope: when the small, rolling tin box R2-D2 projects Princess Leia’s message into the room, her hologram Obi-Wan Kenobi asks for help, he sits spellbound in front of Leia’s image. This scene from ‘Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope’ from 1977 defined the image of the floating hologram in pop culture.

Holograms have fascinated people since their invention by Hungarian-British physicist Dennis Gabor, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for this in 1971. A hologram stores not only an image, but also the complete light information of an object – including depth and perspective. You can ‘look around’ a hologram: when the viewer moves, the view of the object changes – just like with a real object.

Real holograms do not exist – but hologram effects do

Real, free-floating, three-dimensional holograms in the physical sense do not exist to this day. They fail because holography does not reconstruct objects, but rather their light waves. However, light is not visible without a material surface. And yet there are representations that are often referred to as holograms – because they mimic the effects of a hologram using other technology.

Hologram-like technology can be seen today, for example, by anyone visiting the ABBA musical in London. Such technologies are also standard in interactive corporate showrooms today. When done well, hologram-like representations can stimulate conversation, make content easier to understand and support decision-making. This creates immersive brand spaces that offer real decision-making and sales support.

They have long since gone beyond the Star Wars example. Effects that still seemed futuristic in Tom Cruise’s cinema hit ‘Minority Report’ are now part of everyday life in corporate showrooms. There are possibilities just like in the film: for example, information can float in space and you can delve deeper into it with body movements.

We present the five most important hologram effects, show how they work and explain where they offer real added value with a wow effect in product presentations in interactive showrooms.

1. Pepper’s Ghost: Floating content as a precise explanatory tool

The so-called Pepper’s Ghost effect is one of the best-known technologies, often referred to as a hologram in the showroom context. An image is projected from the side and reflected into the room via a semi-transparent glass pane or special film. To visitors, it appears as if a three-dimensional object is floating freely in the room.

This technology is particularly suitable for products and technical systems. To achieve the desired effect, viewers must stand close to the object, which is often displayed in a glass showcase with a dark background. This creates proximity – a focused situation: factual, precise, calm. Pepper’s Ghost does not rely on room-filling amazement, but on detailed explanation. Interaction is also possible via touch controls on the display case or gestures.

Robust, precise and cost-effective: Pepper’s Ghost technology delivers floating content for a focused one-to-one situation between viewer and content. In this example, a monitor projects the image downwards. Viewers can see three different perspectives from three sides and engage in conversation.

Investing in a Pepper’s Ghost system is often economical – with calculable costs. The installation is robust, requires little maintenance and can be used in 24/7 mode.

Conclusion: Pepper’s Ghost delivers floating content for a focused one-to-one situation between viewer and content. A cost-effective and precise explanatory medium, without any big surprises.

2. LED fan displays: Stop! There’s something to see here!

LED fans are the ‘neon sign’ of hologram technologies. Such a system attracts attention from a distance, marks zones and creates an innovative, technological impression.

Technically speaking, LED fan displays are rotating LED modules whose fast-spinning light strips create images and animations that appear to our eyes as free-floating 3D objects in space. Resolution and detail are limited, text is barely legible, and interaction is only possible indirectly. Visitors usually only view the content for a relatively short time. In corporate showrooms, such systems are well suited for entrance areas or as visual markers – they are ‘stoppers’, not explanatory media.

LED fan displays generate noise, require distance from the audience for safety reasons and work best in a rather dark environment. In corporate showrooms, LED fans are therefore usually seen behind glass, which creates distance.

A magical tool that attracts attention and directs the gaze: fast-rotating LED fans in a tall Plexiglas tube are ideal for showing people in three dimensions in a room, for example. An accent technique that can be controlled like a monitor.

Conclusion: LED fan displays are accent media. In the entrance area, they attract attention and draw the eye – ideally to other systems that have their strengths in proximity and depth of detail.

3. Volumetric displays: For real understanding in depth

Volumetric displays use multiple superimposed displays to create a three-dimensional effect that offers many advantages for corporate showrooms. They are the explanatory medium among hologram effects. Each level shows its own content, creating spatial depth through interaction. Typical areas of application include sectional models of machines, sectional buildings or organic structures in the medical or pharmaceutical field. Volumetric displays come into their own wherever internal structures, processes or multi-layered systems need to be made understandable.

Several interested parties can view content simultaneously and from different angles, which creates a much stronger sense of presence and promotes exchange. Depending on the technology used, volumetric displays also work in normal room lighting. They are also dialogue media – in most cases, you can switch between systems or show or hide individual layers using touch controls or a tablet.

The acquisition costs are rather high, but the closed systems are robust and have no mechanical parts, which makes them low-maintenance.

Conclusion: Volumetric displays do not just amaze viewers for a few milliseconds, but are a durable tool for spatial understanding.

4. Transparent displays

Transparent displays are particularly suitable for corporate showrooms where physical objects and digital information need to be directly linked. The content appears on transparent surfaces, acting as a precise information window: the product remains visible, while content appears to be visible in front of it in the room. This allows product variants, states, data layers or internal structures to be displayed without obscuring the object itself.

Transparent displays have their strengths in information density and dialogue capability. Touch and multi-touch interaction allow visitors to control content themselves, change scenarios or call up details. In operation, transparent displays are robust, low-maintenance and suitable for continuous use. They also work in normal room lighting, but require careful background design to avoid reflections and loss of contrast.

An explanatory medium with almost endless possibilities: Transparent displays help viewers understand complex products, technical systems or configuration processes, as they can actively look into deeper levels.

Conclusion: Transparent displays are the right choice when content needs to be conveyed in a comprehensible, structured manner directly on the object. Ideal for complex products, technical systems or configuration processes.

5. Projection onto thin fabric panels: large, theatrical, emotional

As early as 1990, David Bowie used videos projected onto thin, virtually invisible fabric panels for his ‘Sound+Vision’ tour. These projections onto textiles are also known as holo-gauze or holo-net. They are the ‘theatrical medium’ among hologram techniques and remind the audience of classic science fiction holograms. They are particularly effective when it comes to atmosphere, staging and emotional introductions. They create large-scale images that appear to float freely in space.

In corporate showrooms, they are ideal for brand moments, scenic transitions or as a dramatic prelude to a customer journey. Projections onto thin fabric panels also enable very large hologram effects and can be used in a wide variety of scenarios.

They are only suitable to a limited extent as a medium for information or dialogue. In addition, the technology is highly dependent on space, light and viewing angles. Bright environments, backlighting or unfavourable projection angles significantly weaken the effect. This large-scale system requires particularly intensive planning.

The Samurai Museum in Berlin-Mitte displays more than 4,000 original objects from Japan, including this centuries-old teahouse. Projecting onto a thin fabric creates a fantastic effect without actually altering the historical site.

Conclusion: Projections onto textiles are suitable as scenographic highlights with virtually no size restrictions – less so for explanatory content or consulting situations.

Hologram effects as strategic tools

Hologram-like effects can be used sustainably and profitably in corporate showrooms. They focus attention, provide orientation, set accents or make spatial relationships understandable. They support content – they do not replace it.

Advantages of hologram technology:

• Wow moments
• Longer dwell times
• Better product comprehension
• More emotional brand perception
• Faster comprehension of complex content

These technologies are particularly powerful where spatial representation leads to genuine understanding, such as with internal structures, processes or complex systems. But even entertaining wow effects can have a lasting impact if they are embedded in a clear dramaturgy. A successful corporate showroom therefore uses hologram-like representations in a targeted and measured way – as part of an overall concept comprising content, interaction and spatial design. In this way, technology becomes a means of communication, with the product always remaining the focus.

Using hologram effects profitably – with the expertise of Garamantis

Are you curious about how hologram-like technologies can spectacularly put your brand and products in the spotlight? Then Garamantis is the right place for you. As a full-service provider for interactive exhibitions and showrooms, we plan experiential worlds for your company and ensure perfect implementation.