Actuality Systems receives $1.7 million grant from NIST for commercialization of holographic video; grant will fund development of low-cost 3D holovideo systems.

Actuality Systems, Inc. has announced that it has been awarded a $1.7 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for work to commercialize low-cost scalable 3D holographic video.

"The NIST grant allows us to extend our Perspecta technologies to create low-cost, mass market 3D holovideo systems," said Cameron Lewis, the company's president and CEO. "This means Actuality can offer 3D systems that create entirely new forms of media and entertainment. We envision availability of photo-realistic, full motion 3D holovideo that can be projected in homes, theatres and used for multiple business applications. We believe this is the next graphical user interface (GUI)".

Actuality Systems is a privately funded company that develops, produces,

and sells the Perspecta 3D System, an integrated hardware and software platform that renders full-color 3D images. The grant, which is part of NIST's Advanced Technology Program, was awarded to expand the company's work on low-cost holographic video for the production of high-resolution, full-color 3D images suitable for use in realtime medical applications, security applications, and mass-market entertainment.

"The NIST program appears to support technologies that have the potential for significantly expanding existing or creating entirely new markets. By using our Perspecta Technologies as the operating system for the 3D holovideo," Lewis said. "We significantly reduce development risk and time-to-market. Using a common software platform, all applications developed for Perspecta Spatial 3D display will run on the holovideo display."

According to Lewis, Actuality's vision is to create consumer priced, scalable (envisioned to extend from very large amphitheater screens to small personal devices), full color, and real-time 3D holographic video. The broadcast image will appear in the air in full 3D and appear to be independent of hardware.

Earlier this month, Actuality announced that it had closed out its initial Seed Round of funding as the company prepared to introduce the latest generation of Perspecta spatial 3D this fall. The company's initial funding through angel investors and venture capital firms totaled more than $6.2 million over three years.

Actuality Systems, Inc. develops, sells, and licenses the Perspecta 3D System for spatial visualization, simulation, and workgroup collaboration. Perspecta enables users to create high-resolution spatial 3D images that can be viewed from any angle around a 360-degree dome--without the use of special goggles. The company recently announced several new patents protecting the unique Perspecta 3D technology.

The ATP provides cost-shared funding to industry-led teams which can include non-profits and universities to help advance particularly challenging, high-risk R&D projects that have the potential to spark important, broad-based economic or social benefits for the United States. The program supports projects that industry cannot fully fund on its own because of significant technical risks. ATP awards are made on the basis of rigorous, competitive peer review of the scientific and technical merit of each proposal. The program accelerates enabling technology research, but does not support product development work.