2006 Excellence in Holography Awards Demonstrate the Industry's Innovation Worldwide

For the 14th consecutive year, the International Hologram Manufacturers Association has given Excellence in Holography Awards to outstanding holographic projects.

London, UK (PRWeb) November 30, 2006 -- The International Hologram Manufacturers Association has given Excellence in Holography Awards to outstanding holographic projects for the past fourteen years. This year is no exception. Sponsored by the industry newsletter Holography News®, these awards for hologram products or techniques introduced over the past year which represent the best in the industry for innovation and commercial potential, were presented at the gala dinner of the annual holographic industry conference Holo-pack•Holo-print®, held this year in Vienna on November 16.

The Best of the Year Award went to Hologram Industries, the University of Liège Hololab and Lucimed for Luminette® spectacles. These are used in for phototherapy, the therapeutic use of light to correct disorders based on light deficiency. The spectacles comprise holographic optical elements (HOEs) that refract light from LEDs in the top frame of the spectacles, maintaining a spectrum that is close to sunlight, and focusing it into the patients' eyes, resulting in a better concentration of the therapy and also enabling them to benefit from the treatment whilst going about their daily activities.

These companies and Luminette also won the Best Industrial Product category.

The winners in the Authentication/Security category were Pt Pura Nusapersada, Indonesian Directorate General of Custom and Excise and the Indonesian Security Printing and Minting Corporation for the new Indonesian cigarette excise stamp which comprises layered anti-counterfeiting features, including a tamper-evident hologram. Commended in this category were Hologram Industries and Imprimerie Nationale for the new French e-passport, which includes a holographic laminate featuring a diffractive interference device (DID) in which the outline of France changes colour from orange to green as the viewpoint changes.

The winners of the Packaging category were Vacumet, Wynalda Litho and Lionsgate Entertainment for the sleeve for the Barbie: Mermaidia DVD. This comprises a holographic film laminated to cartonboard, blind-embossed and overprinted in register to produce a highly creative and appealing presentation box, capturing the ripples of the mermaid's tail in the water. Commended were Pt Pura Barutama and Pt Eaglin Pharma for the cartons of Eagle Medicated Oil. These comprises a holographic film with security images laminated to cartonboard

Both the winner and the commendation awards in the Promotion/Illustration went to companies that had demonstrated the imaginative use of holography in their own marketing materials. The winner was API Holographics for its Copycat Neutering Kit, a spoof guide to neutering (ie deterring) copycats (ie counterfeiters), an ingenious promotion for its HoloType™ authentication holograms in which imaginative use was made of holography both in the step-by-step guide and the sample holographic images, all of which were based on a distinctly feline theme. Hazen Paper, Wave-Front and A M Litho, meanwhile, were commended for their Enhance Your Vision brochure, a swatch book which itself presented overprinted laminated holographic board.

The Best New Holographic Product award winner was ITW COVID for COVID T/E, a tamper-evident holographic overlay for plastic cards such as ID and payment cards.

Finally, the Best New Holographic Technique winner was Spatial Imaging for its new Hydra Image Capture System. This portable system comprises a number of digital cameras mounted on a rail to record different perspective views of the subject - normally a person. The innovation is that Hydra uses as few as four cameras, but has unique software which creates intermediary views with correct parallax, so that the finished image (from which a hologram or other 3D portrait can be produced) may comprise four or more times the number of cameras. This provides for a more complete and high resolution final image, without large and cumbersome multi-camera or linear rail systems.

The award ceremony was rounded off with the presentation of the Brian Monaghan Award for Business Innovation to Steve McGrew, founder of Light Impressions, producer of the first mass-produced embossed hologram, inventor of 2D3D holography, holder of numerous other patents and continuing inventor and innovator in holography. Recipients of this award, introduced in memory of Brian Monaghan, an innovative and imaginative hologram entrepreneur who died in 2002, are chosen by the IHMA Board for their personal contribution to and influence on the development of the hologram industry.

Further details on the awards and commendations can be found at the websites of Holography News (www.holographynews.info) or the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (www.ihma.org).

ABOUT THE IHMA AND HOLOGRAPHY NEWS:

The IHMA is the international association for the hologram industry, set up in 1992 and now comprising nearly 80 hologram manufacturers around the world.

Holography News is the hologram industry's monthly newsletter and is published by Reconnaissance International, the leading source of intelligence on the holography industry and organiser of the Holo-pack•Holo-print conferences since 1989. Reconnaissance also publishes the Holo-pack•Holo-print Industry Study and Market Report and other reference books on holography, and provides the secretariat for the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA).

CONTACT DETAILS:

Ian Lancaster

IHMA and Reconnaissance International

http://www.reconnaissance-intl.com/

Tel: 44 (0) 1932 269917

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