Looking Glass holographic displays add photorealistic Unreal Engine 3D

As glasses-free 3D display technologies go, Looking Glass Factory’s screens were already impressive at displaying holographic content — volumetric 3D video that up to a dozen people can view simultaneously from different angles. Today, the company is expanding its support for popular computer-generated content with the release of an Unreal Engine plugin, enabling developers to create photorealistic 3D objects and environments that float within the prism-like displays.

Prior to Unreal support, Looking Glass screens could display volumetric video footage captured by multiple cameras, as well as simpler CG content created in Unity. But Unreal Engine’s best-in-class 3D rendering capabilities have allowed developers to create visuals for sci-fi TV shows, Weather Channel mixed reality experiences, and untold numbers of games, often photorealistic enough to blur the line between reality and CGI.