A team at Tokyo University has figured out how to make holograms "touchable." When you think of holograms, you probably picture your hand sliding right through them, being a projection of light and all. Here, you won't feel anything, but you certainly can interact.
At first blush, the tech seems to be little more than a trick. After all, you aren't really touching the holograms as much as you are manipulating them by placing your hand in a certain place. The ball doesn't bounce off your palm, for example — the system registers that that's where your hand is and the virtual ball react.
But think about it for a minute: this is the beginnings of a holographic interface. Imagine if in Minority Report, instead of walking up to a display and wearing gloves, Tom Cruise's character walked into a room full of floating, 3D objects and was able to manipulate them with touches and gestures. Or hey, just like our commenters have pointed out below, this could be a Star Trek holodeck in the making! LINK
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