HoloDisc
Answers to common questions about HoloDiscs: what they are, how they are played and read, the rich data they deliver, and how access to them is controlled.
What is a HoloDisc?
What is a HoloDisc?
A HoloDisc is a sealed holographic disc created with The Cybernetics Lab’s Holography Lab Optics SDK. Each HoloDisc combines a hologram you can look at and interact with and a data layer that delivers rich data, including media, Z.E.R.O. data structures, and applications. A HoloDisc can only be opened after it has been verified by the service that issued it.
Is a HoloDisc a physical disc?
No. HoloDiscs are currently digital objects recorded on a simulated optical bench. The physical properties described within a HoloDisc are parameters of that simulation, and no physical recording hardware is currently used to produce them.
How is a HoloDisc made?
A HoloDisc is built on the Holography Lab optics table, a simulated laser bench where light sources, optical components, and content are arranged in a scene. The bench writes the data layer, records how light from the scene reaches a simulated film, then seals and signs the result as a single HoloDisc file. This process is referred to as minting.
What can a HoloDisc hold?
Each HoloDisc carries recorded artwork, such as three-dimensional models, pictures, and text, alongside a data layer that can hold any type of data. Details of each HoloDisc, such as its creator and time of creation, are recorded within the disc itself.
How is a HoloDisc different from an image or audio file?
A conventional image stores a flat picture. A HoloDisc stores a record of light, and the image is reconstructed each time the disc is viewed. Its contents are sealed, so a HoloDisc cannot be opened by ordinary image, audio, or file software.
What is the current state of HoloDisc development?
HoloDiscs are minted, read, and played today within a controlled development environment. HoloDiscs remain under active development, and their capabilities are continuously refined and evaluated.
The HoloDisc File Format
What is the HoloDisc file format?
The HoloDisc file format is the container every HoloDisc is delivered in, saved with the .holodisc file extension. A single, self-contained .holodisc file holds everything that makes up a disc: its identity, its signatures, both of its sides, and the hologram and data recorded on them.
What is inside a HoloDisc file?
A HoloDisc file is made up of three parts: a signed header that identifies the disc, embedded notes that describe the format, and the two sealed sides of the disc, side A and side B.
What does the header record?
The header records the disc’s unique identifier, who minted it and when, the quantum randomness used to create it, its access settings, integrity fingerprints for each side and for the whole file, and its signatures. Because these details are signed, they cannot be changed without the disc being rejected.
What is stored on each side?
Each side carries a sealed plate holding the recorded hologram as a record of light, and the disc’s data layer. Both sides stay sealed until the disc has been verified and unsealed by the Holo Player.
Does a HoloDisc file contain a picture?
No. A HoloDisc file stores a record of light rather than a finished image. The hologram is reconstructed every time the disc is viewed, which is why it responds to lighting, viewing angle, and the display it is played on.
How is a HoloDisc file protected from tampering?
Before a HoloDisc is opened, the Holo Player checks that the file is complete, that its structure is valid, that each side matches its integrity fingerprint, and that its signatures are genuine, including a post-quantum signature. A file that fails any of these checks is rejected and does not open.
Can a HoloDisc file be opened by other software?
No. The contents of a HoloDisc file are sealed, so ordinary image, audio, or file software cannot open them. HoloDiscs are opened in the Holo Player after verification with the service that issued them.
Can a HoloDisc file be shared?
Yes. A HoloDisc file can be shared like any other file. Sharing the file does not share access to it: the disc still opens only after it has been verified, according to the access settings chosen when it was minted, and every access is logged.
Playing a HoloDisc
How is a HoloDisc played?
HoloDiscs are played in the Holo Player, which is built for 2D monitors, mobile devices, and light-field displays. A disc is loaded by dropping it into the Holo Player or selecting it on a mobile device. The Holo Player verifies and unseals the disc, then renders the hologram live, so the image responds to lighting and viewing angle.
Can a HoloDisc play like a CD?
Yes. Audio on a HoloDisc is laid out as tracks across side A and side B and played back with familiar controls: play, pause, stop, seek, and track selection. A HoloDisc can also carry image tracks that are shown in the Holo Player.
What can I do with audio on a HoloDisc?
A HoloDisc can carry multi-track audio, with separate stems that play together in sync. Each stem has its own volume, mute, and solo controls, and a jog platter lets you scrub and scratch through the audio like a turntable.
How do I interact with the hologram?
The hologram can be tilted and turned by dragging or touch, zoomed with a pinch, and lit from different directions, with the option for the light to follow your viewpoint. Like a real hologram, its colour and image shift as the viewing angle and lighting change.
Can a HoloDisc be viewed in different ways?
Yes. The Holo Player can show a HoloDisc as the human eye would see it, as a spectrum, or at a single wavelength of light. It can also tune into ultraviolet light to reveal the data recorded within the disc.
Do HoloDiscs offer interactive experiences?
Yes. HoloDiscs trigger interactive applications at the edge, so opening a verified disc launches an experience on or near the device of the person interacting with it rather than depending on a central server.
Reading a HoloDisc
How is a HoloDisc read?
A HoloDisc is read the way an optical drive reads a disc. In the Holo Player, a read laser tuned to the colour of light the data was recorded with scans the disc ring by ring, and the Holo Player shows the read head moving across the disc as it reads.
Why are lasers used to read a HoloDisc?
HoloDisc data is recorded with light, and it can only be read back with light of the right colour arriving in the right way. This allows a large amount of data to be stored within the disc, and it means the data cannot be read by simply looking at the disc.
What happens when a HoloDisc is read?
Before any data is read, the Holo Player checks the disc’s integrity and signatures and confirms with the issuing service that the disc is genuine. The disc is then unsealed, the data layer is read and corrected, and the data is decrypted and handed to the Holo Player or the application it belongs to.
Does a HoloDisc have two sides?
Yes. Both side A and side B carry a hologram and data. Reading continues from side A to side B, much like turning over a record.
How does a HoloDisc handle read errors?
Every HoloDisc includes built-in error correction, so data can be recovered reliably even when parts of a read are imperfect. The Holo Player reports reading progress and corrected errors live while the disc is read.
Can I see the data on a HoloDisc?
Yes. Switching the Holo Player to its ultraviolet data view reveals the data recorded within the disc, which comes in and out of view as the disc is tilted.
Data and Applications
What data can be delivered on a HoloDisc?
HoloDiscs deliver rich data of any type, including audio, images, documents, Z.E.R.O. data structures, and applications.
Can HoloDiscs deliver Z.E.R.O. data structures?
Yes. HoloDiscs deliver Z.E.R.O. data structures, allowing Z.E.R.O. information to be carried, verified, and opened as a sealed and traceable object.
Can HoloDiscs deliver applications?
Yes. Applications are delivered on HoloDiscs and launched when a verified disc is opened, running at the edge for the person interacting with the disc.
What does “at the edge” mean?
“At the edge” means on or near the device where the HoloDisc is opened, rather than on a central server. Running at the edge keeps data close to the person using it and keeps interactive experiences responsive.
Why deliver data on a HoloDisc?
Data delivered on a HoloDisc arrives sealed, signed, verified before it opens, access-controlled, and traceable to its origin. Every access is logged, so the data carries its provenance with it.
Security and Access
How is a HoloDisc kept secure?
Each HoloDisc is sealed with quantum-random material at the time it is minted and signed using both conventional and post-quantum methods. A HoloDisc cannot be unsealed on its own; opening it requires a live check with the service that issued it.
What role does quantum randomness play in a HoloDisc?
Quantum random number generation (QRNG) supplies the unique identifier of each HoloDisc and the material used to seal it. This ties every disc to randomness that cannot be predicted or reproduced in advance.
Who can open a HoloDisc?
Access is set when a HoloDisc is minted. A disc can be open to anyone, require credentials, or be kept private. A HoloDisc can also carry a view limit, after which it locks or is permanently “burned” so it can no longer be opened.
Is access to a HoloDisc recorded?
Yes. Every time a HoloDisc is opened, the access is counted and logged, including for discs that are open to anyone.
How do HoloDiscs relate to authentication?
Within Z.E.R.O.’s architecture, HoloDiscs serve two roles: a holographic interface to look at and interact with, and a sealed artifact used as part of Z.E.R.O.’s approach to identity and authentication.
Can a HoloDisc be traced back to its origin?
Each HoloDisc carries a signed record of who minted it, when it was minted, and the quantum randomness used to create it. This reflects Z.E.R.O.’s principle that responsibility rests with the human user and that provenance should remain open to review.
Can developers create their own HoloDiscs?
The Holography Lab Optics SDK is currently in controlled development and is not open to outside developers. Allowing developers to build their own mechanisms for the optics table is planned. Individuals or organizations interested in the SDK are invited to contact The Deep Tech Research and Development Group and undergo the intake process.
The Optics Table
What is the optics table?
The optics table is the Holography Lab bench on which every HoloDisc is built. It is a simulated laser bench where developers place light sources, mirrors, beam splitters, lenses, filters, film, and content on a virtual table, then record the scene as a hologram.
Is the optics table a physical lab?
No. The optics table is a simulation of a holography bench that models how real optical components behave. It does not currently control physical lasers or recording hardware.
How does the optics table simulate light?
The optics table traces light through the scene one photon at a time, following each photon’s colour, power, and phase as it reflects, passes through, or scatters off the components and air in its path. The light that reaches the film is what the hologram records.
What type of hologram does the optics table record?
The optics table records volume reflection holograms. The recording is stored throughout the depth of the film rather than only on its surface, and when the hologram is lit it reflects light back toward the viewer, so its colour and image shift with the lighting and the angle it is viewed from. Recordings capture light beyond the visible spectrum, including ultraviolet and infrared, and both faces of a HoloDisc are recorded.
What does the optics table capture from a scene?
The optics table captures a light field: how bright the light arriving at each point of the film is and the direction it arrives from. Because direction is recorded as well as brightness, the hologram shows depth and parallax as the viewer moves.
What can be placed in a scene?
Scenes can include three-dimensional models, scanned scenes, vector graphics, pictures, and text as recorded artwork, along with the optical components that light and shape the recording.
How is data stored alongside the hologram?
The optics table uses holographic data storage. Depending on the type of HoloDisc, data is written as pages of light recorded within the disc’s layer or as marks etched into its surface, with error correction so the data can be read back reliably.
How is the optics table checked for accuracy?
The optics table is checked by comparing its simulated light measurements against an independent analytic model of the same setup. The simulation remains experimental and is continuously refined and evaluated.