Holographic imaging of biological forms
Capturing real living systems in three dimensions
La digital holographic microscopy (DHM) makes it possible to observe living cells in 3D without damaging them. The technique reconstructs three-dimensional images that reveal movement and interactions within living matter.
Researchers at Caltech have developed DHM systems able to detect living microbes, while at Kobe University a multimodal system combines 3D phase and fluorescence to visualise cell division or energy dissipation in real time.
How to proceed
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Scan biological samples (bacteria, plant tissues, miniature ecosystems) with a holographic microscope
Leica Thorlabs ~50 000 €
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Process the data with holographic reconstruction software — add layers to visualise the flows
HoloStudio MATLAB
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Project through a holographic display for an immersive visualisation
Looking Glass HoloLens
Simulating flows, loops and dissipation
Making the invisible dynamics of living systems visible
The dynamic aspects of living systems — self-maintenance, production of coherence, resistance to entropy — remain invisible to the naked eye. Prigogine's dissipative structures show that living systems are a far-from-equilibrium regime.
These processes can be modelled in holographic 3D: flows appear as vortices, constraints as pulsing membranes, autocatalytic loops as rotating spirals. Hybridising them with real data creates a complete representation.
Simulation of energy flows
and entropy dissipation
Modelling tools
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Model with 3D software and holographic plug-ins
Unity Blender
- Hybridise real data and simulations for a complete representation
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Allow interaction: zoom in, perturb the equilibrium, observe the resistance
HoloLens 2 RED Holographics
Multi-scale integration
From the cell to the ecosystem, a living hologram
To represent all the forms of living systems, multimodal holograms make it possible to navigate between scales: from cellular metabolism to tissue flows and up to the global dissipation of an ecosystem.
Inspired by Susskind's holographic principle, this approach visualises life as a coherent projection of information — a photonic geometry in which coherence, loops and dissipation intertwine.
Metabolic loops
Blood flows
Carbon cycle
Generative creation
- Create a multi-scale hologram with fluid navigation between levels
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Use generative AI for dynamic 3D simulations
Stable Diffusion HoloGAN
- Add gestural interactions: perturb an equilibrium, observe the resistance of the system