How to turn your smartphone into a hologram projector

Let's face it, as excited as we might be about Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, we're not getting it all that soon. Oculus Rift will have a consumer version available only next year, and who knows when we'll get our hands on the HoloLens? But in the meantime, here's some home-made visual magic you can do with a few things lying around the house. And by visual magic, I mean actual freaking Holograms. 

YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss released a video a few days ago, showing how you can turn your smartphone into a hologram projector. Here are a few things you'll need:

1. Graph paper and pen- You'll need to be precise when you're drawing the outline, so make sure you have a ruler as well.
2. CD case - An old will do, as long as you clean it well and it's not too scuffed. 
3. Tape - You'll need this to attach the four sides of your projector together, but any other strong adhesive will do.
4. Knife or glass cutter and a pair of scissors  - For stabb-uh, I mean cutting things.
5. Smartphone - Your smartphone will be the projector, and you're building the lens.


Now simply follow the instructions in the video up there to draw a trapezoid on the graph paper. Cut it out and use it to trace the same shape on the CD case. You need four of these pieces. Then stick them together, place the lens on your smartphone, play the video and voilà! Easy peasy hologram. You can find the hologram video used here.

But what fun is that? If you're going to make a hologram then why not make one that matters? One that is counting on you, perhaps, to retrieve the Empire's plans from the R2 unit?