We have mused before in these pages about the passing of the old guard in holography, but reporting the death of Hamish Shearer and Graham Ridout in consecutive issues brings this to our attention again.

Neither Hamish nor Graham made a contribution to the fundamental science of holography - they were not Leiths or Denysiuk’s or Bentons. They were, however, entrepreneurs who were committed to holography. Hamish started with holography when he opened a gift-shop called Parallax in London’s Covent Garden, and – frustrated by the time and cost involved in producing decorative silver halide holograms – envisaged a photocopier-type machine to mass-produce holograms; he was then the prime mover in setting up Applied Holographics to realise this concept. Graham was an engineer who was making diffraction patterns when he realised how his technology to do this could readily be adapted to the production of embossed holograms. He became a serial holographic entrepreneur (Hamish stayed with Applied - which became OpSec - until his untimely death), who provided one of the world’s largest security printers with their entry into holography; De La Rue Holographics has gone from strength to strength, still using the fundamental technologies he provided.

Companies in Their Own Image

Applied Holographics developed full-colour 3D embossed holographic stereograms and other innovative techniques; Graham – through his various companies – was a pioneer in holographic embossing techniques and equipment. Both were idiosyncratic individuals whose companies were built in their image (albeit that this was less so with Hamish and Applied/OpSec once it became a public company).

Those were the days! When an individual could have an idea, a concept, establish a specialist company to put it in to production and see that company grow to become an established, stable global player with sales in the billions… except, of course, that isn’t what has happened to hologram companies.
It is instructive to consider where the innovations and inventions in holography are coming from now, compared to those early days. In the last few years Holography News® has reported on the re-birth of reflection or Lippmann holography, mainly using photopolymer as the recording material; we have reported on the use of holographic optical elements to make much-improved projection screens, and the development of chemically-sensitive holograms to be used as sensors or indicators. These are only three of the recent innovations  reported in these pages.

These innovations have come, respectively, from large multifaceted companies or from university spin-offs. Dai Nippon, Sony and Bayer Material Science are now the innovators in photopolymer holography (where DuPont is also of course a major player), all of which dwarf even the largest specialist holography company. The development of HOEs for use in projector screens - as well as for other display instrumentation - originated in German and Japanese universities and is being commercially exploited by spin-off companies or licensees. Similarly, the sensor holograms first developed at Cambridge University are being commercialised by Smart Holograms, a spin-off company with significant investment from venture capital and other investment funds.

All of these companies are discovering what the entrepreneurs of holography discovered before them: there are no instant fixes or instant markets in holography. Holograms are fussy products that need careful attention in their mastering and production if consistent, high quality product is to be delivered, and creating that high quality product in the first place takes time and much research and development. And much as the inventor, originator or producer might believe that the world will beat a path to their door to buy their wonderful new holographic product, it takes many years to open the markets’ collective eyes to the benefits of this product and to adapt or introduce the application and production methods to use it.

Innovation Now Needs Deep Pockets

The early holographic entrepreneurs, such as Hamish Shearer and Graham Ridout, have made an undeniable and significant contribution to the development of this industry and the markets for holograms and holographic products. But as holograms and holographic products become more sophisticated, their development requires deep pockets and advanced R&D resources that would have been beyond the capacity of their early companies.

Companies such as Bayer, Dai Nippon and others now developing new types of hologram have the pockets and the resources needed. So, albeit sometimes as the result of a budget and funding struggle, do universities and their venture-capital funded spin-off companies. There is still a place for the maverick, individualist inventor/innovator entrepreneur – and may it always be so – but the industry now depends more on the R&D resources of these large companies and universities that are building on the foundations laid by those earlier, pioneering holographic entrepreneurs.