Looking through a hologram of his son, Nathan, Rob Taylor poses for a conventional photo at his Nashville studio, where he specializes in holography for the public and business clients. The hologram of Nathan is on display at the Indianapolis Childrens Museum.

NASHVILLE A Brown County couple is creating windows to the past. Since late last year, Rob Taylor of Nashville has applied cutting-edge technology to produce what he hopes will be the next generation of holograms and this generations photographs.

Taylor and his wife, Sharonda, own Forth Dimension Holographics, a holography shop and museum that has been in Nashville for 8 years.

Forth Dimension is one of two businesses in North America to create holograms of people and animals with a revolutionary laser.

In 1996, Taylor stumbled upon new technology, created by scientists from Lithuania, one of the three Baltic states northeast of Poland.

He attended a symposium on display holography at Lake Forest, Ill., where the scientists presented a paper about using a pulse laser to capture holographic images.

The length of exposure with a traditional continuous wave laser made it impossible to capture a living being, because the subjects movements blurred the image.

The pulse laser at Forth Dimension captures images in 20 nanoseconds or 20 billionths of a second. The time it took to capture a three-dimensional image with a traditional continuous wave laser, up to several minutes, was directly proportional to the size of the image and power of laser.

In early 1997, Taylor spent three weeks in Vilnius, Lithuanias capital, to look at and test the pulse laser prototype and to help create the outer casing of a camera system powered by the laser.

In early 1998, Taylor returned to Lithuania with a laser engineer who examined the machine to ensure it would meet American safety standards and legally could be imported.

Getting started

In March 1999, Taylor obtained a U.S. Small Business Administration loan through Columbus Enterprise Development Corp. to help absorb part of the projects $200,000 price tag.

CEDC also helped Taylor identify customers, calculate business projections and step over bureaucratic hurdles, such as obtaining approval from U.S. Customs.

This is by no means anything ordinary that we deal with, said Jack B. Hess, director of CEDC.

Taylor also had to obtain permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The laser is similar to the ones used to remove tattoos and birthmarks, Taylor said.

Its just light, he said, but you do have to worry about the intensity.

Having a hologram taken is a little bit like going to a photographer, but also a little bit like going to a doctor, Taylor said with a laugh.

The first pulse laser-powered holographic camera system of its kind arrived in Nashville in March 1999.

Today, seven such cameras exist worldwide, but only one in the United States.

Its been a long process, Taylor said recently, standing in the museum portion of his newly opened 4,500-square-foot studio in the heart of Nashville.

The 100 holograms on display, the subject matter of which ranges from animals to people and fantastic creatures such as vampires, look startlingly real and, at first glance, eerie.

Real-life images

They may seem strange, Taylor said, because people havent seen them before.

Were aiming for a high degree of accuracy and realism.

People are not used to images being so real, he said.

The holograms at Taylors store are captured on an emulsion that holds up to 5,000 lines per millimeter, making holograms 1,500 times more detailed than any other photograph.

If one were to hold a microscope to such a hologram, one would be able to see surface bacteria on the subjects skin, Taylor said.

Another difference between holograms and photographs is perplexing: If one shattered a hologram into tiny fragments, one would be able to see the entire image of the original hologram on each fragment.

The three-dimensional illusion also is surprising.

One hologram at Forth Dimension shows a man holding a pitchfork toward the viewer.

Taylor has measured the effect: The pitchfork looks as if it extended 28 inches from the wall.

The two main hurdles the business has to overcome is letting people know the technology exists and getting them used to the level of realism, Taylor said.

The price for that realism ranges from $595 to $2,500, depending on extras such as framing and lighting.

Unlike photographs, holograms need direct light to be visible.

Most holograms can be created on the same day.

Forth Dimensions most unusual subject, so far, has been a 280-pound tiger.

It took two hours to get him in the right spot, Taylor said.

Diverse applications

The holograms are expected to last about 400 years, making them ideal to capture family memories for posterity.

Youll be able to see your child in a way youve never been able to before, said Sharonda Taylor.

The couple has sold about 40 commissioned portraits, to customers as far away as Belgium.

But the technology also has commercial, industrial and medical applications.

Cummins Inc. approached Taylor about taking holograms of the nozzle pattern of a diesel engines fuel injector.

Forth Dimension has sold holograms for advertising purposes, including Paul Newmans Popcorn.

And surgeons could use the holograms to map their procedures and take before-and-after images.

Taylor hopes commercial advertising will generate half his business.

The Nashville entrepreneur also owns the sole U.S. distribution rights for the technology and materials used to create the holograms.

Its a really exciting thing to happen.

Taylors long-term plans include opening several franchises throughout the country.