Are Star Wars-like Holo Calls Coming in the Near Future?

In 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, Princess Leia appeared hovering over the table as a semitransparent volumetric image projected by a standalone robot R2D2, thus introducing a prevalent yet unrealistic notion of “holograms” and “holo calls” into mass culture. This is an example of how a fictional technology becomes an iconic representation of what future communication looks like.  Despite this, a number of companies are now working on bringing a new dimension into our communications, including holographic video calls. But before we dive into the many marvelous opportunities the future is about to bring, let’s briefly recall what holography is all about (it’s not as close to the Star Wars-style holograms as you might think!).