What If iPhones Had Holograms?

On any given day, someone at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is probably sifting through an application from Apple. As the company constantly innovates, it's also constantly putting its stamp on new technologies, regardless of whether or not they ultimately make it into an Apple device. Recently, Apple has filed patents for head-mounted displays and indoor navigation systems. (For the aimless wanderer who has everything?) Perhaps most interesting, though, are its holograms.

Apple has patented a prospective display that would use mirrors and lenses to project 3-D images in mid-air. Think of it as a 21st-century update to those hologram toys you might find in the back of a SkyMall catalog. Apple's display would be all digital, of course, and include gesture-based sensors that would allow users to interact with holograms.

Co.Design's Mark Wilson wondered what such a technology might look like if it were integrated into an iPhone, and dug up this two-year-old concept video by designer Mike Ko. It's not exactly what Apple had in mind, but it's pretty cool all the same.

We're already imagining a potential Tupac Hologram hangout. Apple may never implement this kind of tech in any of its devices, but it doesn't hurt to dream. (Co.Design)