A new app called iHologram has just been submitted to Apple. The app itself was inspired by a concept thought up in 2008 which theorized that it should be possible to turn the iPhone into a type of hologram. No, Trekkies, I’m not talking about stuff you can do on the Holodeck of the Enterprise; I’m talking about being able to see images in 3D, so it looks like the image is popping out of the 2D screen.

Here’s the rundown of the concept:

The application works by assuming a constant viewing angle (35-45 degrees), typical for when the device is placed on a tabletop. The 3d scene’s perspective is warped using anamorphosis, the same technique used in Hans Holbein’s painting The Ambassadors. This application does the exact same but updates dynamically.

Now here’s a video of the actual iHologram that a dev by the name of Jormy created. Then let me know if he nailed it well enough.

The bottom line to me is that it’s a great concept, and it’s cool that a dev actually implemented it in real life, but how practical is it? The app shown in the video is quite basic and isn’t anything I feel could be applied to a legit app. Perhaps it can be applied to a new game style, and then it’d be worth it. But until then, color me impressed by the tech involved but I won’t actually be buying the app myself.

BTW – it will only be available to the iPhone 3GS.