Scientists answer call for holographic booth

Not many people thought of sending 3-D holograms before Princess Leia’s plea for help in “Star Wars.” Now, two Japanese scientists hope to one day turn the humble telephone booth into a high-tech chamber that can record and transmit holographic images.

At a Tokyo University laboratory, researchers are putting subjects into a booth where a 360-degree digital camera records images that are then sent to a cylindrical tube.

“We can see the 3-D image as if it’s inside the cylinder,” said Susumu Tachi, above right, a Tokyo University professor of computer science and physics.

Tachi and Tomohiro Endo, above left, developed the cylinder — dubbed SeeLinder — by combining fiber optics, electronics and a white light-emitting diode, or LED.

But there are limitations. For one, the hologram is fuzzier than modern TV screens.

The contraption also is pricey: One cylinder costs $97,100.

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