Researchers from the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) have developed what they're calling the world's first true 3D colored hologram.

ETRI, a 16-company consortium led by LG Display, successfully created a floating Rubik's cube atop a tabletop-style digital display system. As Engadget points out, the team employed powerful, rapid lasers to create the 3D object using diffraction. Color, meanwhile, is a result of interference between multi-hued lasers.

Implementations already on the market are simply pseudo holograms that achieve a 3D effect through the use of 2D imagery whereas ETRI's solution can be viewed in 360 degrees.

ET News notes that the research is part of the Giga Korea Project's Digital Holographic Tabletop Terminal Technology Development that began in 2013.

As you can see, the hologram is pretty small, measuring just three inches in size. Over the next five years, however, researchers said they plan to develop system minimization technology, improve the overall quality of the hologram image and increase its size.

Upon completion in 2021, they hope to create a 10-inch Holo TV. Perhaps even more interesting is the fact that they want to develop a method to send and receive actual holograms over 5G networks.

ETRI Broadcast Communication Media Laboratory manager Kim Jin Woong said the work is a new attempt to overcome technical limitations that current methods have. The progress made thus far has been meaningful, Woong added, as it increases the possibility of implementing virtual reality or holographic broadcasting in the future.

Images courtesy ET News