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SeeReal Technologies

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SeeReal Technologies
Information
Industry Holographic 3D display technology, intellectual property licensing
Founded 2002
Founder Armin Schwerdtner (predecessor company Dresden 3D), Bo Krøll
Headquarters Munsbach, Luxembourg (SeeReal Technologies S.A.); research and development in Dresden, Germany (SeeReal Technologies GmbH, in liquidation since 2024)
Notable Personnel Bo Krøll (CEO, founder and chairman), Hagen Stolle (managing director of the Dresden GmbH until 2024)
Products Holographic 3D (H3D) display technology for licensing; C-i and C-n autostereoscopic displays (discontinued around 2007)
Website https://seereal.com


SeeReal Technologies is a holographic display technology company. Its corporate headquarters for partnering and licensing is SeeReal Technologies S.A. in Munsbach, Luxembourg. Research and development was carried out by SeeReal Technologies GmbH in Dresden, Germany, which entered liquidation in 2024.[1][2] The company started out selling eye-tracked autostereoscopic monitors, then dropped them around 2007 to concentrate on real-time electronic holography, which it calls Holographic 3D (H3D).[3]

SeeReal's approach to holographic displays limits the computed holographic information to small "viewing windows" placed at the viewer's tracked eye positions and builds each frame from many small "sub-holograms", one per scene point. This cuts the pixel-pitch and computing demands of computer-generated holography enough to run on liquid crystal display hardware and a graphics card.[4] Its later work focused on holographic automotive head-up displays with continuous depth and on European research projects aimed at holographic mixed reality displays. In 2019 Volkswagen took a minority stake in the company.[2][5]

Reviewed 6 October 2026. Founding history, both patents, Volkswagen stake, awards, five paper citations via Crossref, CORDIS project data, the 2024 Dresden liquidation entry and technology claims checked against the cited sources. About review dates.

History

Origins and autostereoscopic displays

According to the Dresden technology news site Oiger, the basic technology behind SeeReal's displays was researched at the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) in the mid-1990s, and TU Dresden scientist Armin Schwerdtner founded the original firm as "Dresden 3D". It later traded as "LK" and "i2i GmbH" before taking the name SeeReal Technologies GmbH in 2002.[6] SeeReal itself gives 2002 as its founding year.[3] Schwerdtner is the named inventor on early SeeReal patents. They include an autostereoscopic display patent filed in the United States in October 2002, with a priority date of October 2001, and granted on 16 May 2006 (US 7,046,272).[7]

In its first years SeeReal developed, built and sold autostereoscopic 3D displays. The eye-tracked models were called C-i displays. They moved the left-eye and right-eye viewing zones in real time, so viewers did not have to stay in a fixed sweet spot. A cheaper, non-tracked range was sold as C-n displays. SeeReal says research departments in biomedical and geospatial imaging, research institutes and universities used them. The company stopped autostereoscopic display production and sales around 2007. It gave two reasons: stereoscopic 3D had fundamental limits, and it had by then patented its first holographic display solutions.[3]

The Luxembourg company SeeReal Technologies S.A. is registered in the Luxembourg company register under RCS B 112913.[1] In 2023 the Luxembourg business publication Delano gave 2005 as the year SeeReal was launched and described Bo Krøll as its founder.[8] SeeReal's own website calls Krøll the company's "Founder and Chairman" and names him as CEO.[9][1]

Move to holography

In September 2007, Laser Focus World reported that SeeReal had demonstrated a prototype real-time video holographic display with a 20-inch monochrome screen. The company said it computed holograms in real time on a commercial high-end graphics card at 30 frames per second for that display.[4] R. Häussler, A. Schwerdtner and N. Leister presented large holographic displays as an alternative to stereoscopic displays at the SPIE Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XIX conference in 2008.[10]

Over the following decade the company kept publishing on its prototypes. In 2017, SeeReal staff described a real-time holographic 3D display with a 14-inch active area in Applied Optics, covering its laser sources, spatial light modulator and holographic optical elements.[11][12] In 2018, Frost & Sullivan gave SeeReal Technologies S.A. its European New Product Innovation Award in holographic displays, citing the sub-hologram technology.[13]

Volkswagen investment and automotive work

On 30 August 2019, Volkswagen Group announced that it had acquired a minority stake in SeeReal Technologies to secure access to holographic augmented reality display technology for cars. The two companies had begun a research cooperation at the end of 2018.[2] Delano later reported that Volkswagen paid 10 million euros for the stake.[8] In the announcement, Volkswagen described possible uses such as projecting hazardous road situations into the driver's surroundings in three dimensions and suspending "touchable" displays in place of conventional controls.[2]

In July 2021, SeeReal won first place in the Saxon Innovation Prize (Sächsischer Innovationspreis) for its holographic 3D displays.[14][15] In a futureSAX interview about the prize, Hagen Stolle, managing director and group CTO of SeeReal Technologies GmbH, said the company was moving from prototyping its concepts to developing products, and that it aimed to complete products with large partner companies within two to three years, both for cars and for 3D monitors at home and in the office.[16] In February 2022, SeeReal researchers described a real-time holographic head-up display prototype with continuous depth in Applied Optics. It showed full-color, real-time 3D encoding within a 5 by 3 degree field of view.[17] SeeReal said this prototype used an LCOS platform and that it was also working toward MEMS-based platforms for head-up display integration.[18]

Liquidation of the Dresden company

In April 2024, SeeReal announced that all communication had moved to its Luxembourg office and that the Dresden research and development phone number was no longer valid.[19] Commercial register data for SeeReal Technologies GmbH (Dresden District Court, HRB 20721) record its liquidation in June 2024. An entry dated 20 June 2024 names a liquidator and records that Hagen Stolle was no longer managing director.[20] The European Union's CORDIS database lists the GmbH's participation in the REALHOLO and CHARITY projects as ended.[5][21] As of October 2026, the company's website still lists SeeReal Technologies S.A. in Munsbach as its corporate headquarters for partnering and licensing.[1]

Technology

SeeReal's H3D concept starts from human perception rather than from classical holography. A conventional electronic hologram would need pixels of roughly 0.5 micrometers and a supercomputer to drive a television-sized screen. SeeReal instead computes only the light that reaches the viewer's pupils.[4] The display's pixel pitch sets a diffraction periodicity interval, and SeeReal uses that interval as a viewing window. Laser Focus World's 2007 example was a 20 micrometer pixel pitch, which gives a 20 mm window at 80 cm. Each eye gets its own window through temporal multiplexing, and the windows follow the viewer's eyes.[4] This viewing-window principle appears in early patents such as US 7,839,548, "Video hologram and device for reconstructing video holograms", which was filed in 2003 with Schwerdtner as inventor and granted in 2010.[22]

Each scene point is encoded as its own small sub-hologram covering only a few hundred to a few thousand pixels, instead of being spread across the whole display. Laser Focus World reported the company's claim that this brings hologram computation down to levels that an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) could handle.[4] SeeReal says a typical Full HD scene needs about 2 million sub-holograms per frame. It also says that small sub-holograms relax the coherence needed from the laser light source, and that its real-time encoding has run on CPUs, GPUs and FPGAs.[23]

Because the viewing windows are small, the system depends on fast and precise eye tracking. Beam-steering optics move the windows to the new eye positions every frame.[24] SeeReal developed its own eye-tracking software based on grayscale stereo cameras.[23] For automotive work it used camera and software systems from Smart Eye to track the observer's pupil position in three dimensions.[25] Other components the company has described include flat laser backlights that combine refractive optics with diffractive optical elements and volume-grating holographic optical elements that it can make in-house up to about 350 mm in size.[23] For these thin backlights, the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology (FEP) in Dresden developed glass coated with low-reflection nanolayers that spread the laser beam across the panel, and a 2023 paper by FEP and SeeReal authors describes such coatings for slim holographic display backlights.[6][26]

The approach targets the vergence-accommodation conflict of stereoscopic displays. SeeReal argues that stereoscopic 3D supplies only two flat views. Its holographic reconstructions, by contrast, provide eye focus (accommodation) and motion parallax cues, so a scene keeps its depth even when the viewer closes one eye.[23]

Products

SeeReal's holographic work has been shown as prototypes and demonstrators. The company says these proofs of principle serve as the basis for putting its H3D technology into products with manufacturing and license partners, and that some of its component solutions can be supplied for third-party use.[23][1] Delano reported that, according to its latest financial statement, SeeReal held 107 patent families and 625 patents and patent applications as of 2022, and that its sales reached 1 million euros in 2022.[8]

Product or system Years Notes
C-i autostereoscopic displays Until about 2007 Eye-tracked glasses-free 3D displays that repositioned the left-eye and right-eye zones in real time[3]
C-n autostereoscopic displays Until about 2007 Lower-cost non-tracked glasses-free 3D displays used in biomedical and geospatial imaging and research[3]
20-inch real-time holographic prototype 2007 Monochrome video holographic prototype with real-time hologram calculation at 30 frames per second on a graphics card[4]
14-inch real-time holographic prototype 2017 Holographic 3D display demonstrator described in Applied Optics and at Display Summit 2017[11][27]
Holographic head-up display prototype 2022 Real-time, full-color, continuous-depth head-up display with a 5 by 3 degree field of view, built on an LCOS platform[17][18]

XR work

SeeReal's main links to XR are research projects on holographic mixed reality displays and holographic communication:

Project Years Funding SeeReal's role
REALHOLO (phase modulating micro mirror array for real holographic mixed-reality displays) 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2025 EU Horizon 2020, grant 101014977; coordinated by Technikon Partner; SeeReal says it initiated the project together with its partners. The consortium, including Fraunhofer IPMS, researched a MEMS piston-type micro-mirror spatial light modulator that modulates the phase of light, aiming at a holographic mixed reality head-up display demonstrator and future holographic head-mounted displays[5][28][29]
CHARITY (Cloud for Holography and Cross Reality) 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2024 EU Horizon 2020, grant 101016509; coordinated by Eurescom Consortium member providing the "holographic assistant" use case, a butler-like avatar shown on a holographic 3D display with content from the cloud[21][30]
6G NeXt (Native Extensions for XR Technologies) Kicked off October 2022 German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF); led by Deutsche Telekom Partner (as SeeReal Technologies GmbH) in a project whose use cases included end-to-end transmission of real-time 3D holographic video for video conferencing[31][32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "Locations". SeeReal Technologies. https://seereal.com/locations. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Volkswagen Group invests in leading technology company in the field of 3D holography". Volkswagen Group. 2019-08-30. https://www.volkswagen-group.com/en/press-releases/volkswagen-group-invests-in-leading-technology-company-in-the-field-of-3d-holography-16971. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Did you know ... that SeeReal was already founded in 2002". SeeReal Technologies. 2016-12-04. https://seereal.com/did-you-know. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Gail Overton (2007-09-01). "HOLOGRAPHY: SeeReal develops practical real-time holographic display". Laser Focus World. https://www.laserfocusworld.com/detectors-imaging/article/16552688/holography-seereal-develops-practical-real-time-holographic-display. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Phase modulating micro mirror array for real holographic mixed-reality displays (REALHOLO)". CORDIS, European Commission. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101014977. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Heiko Weckbrodt (2015-05-11). "Dresdner entwickeln flache 3D-Bildschirme auf Laser-Basis". Oiger. https://oiger.de/2015/05/11/dresdner-entwickeln-flache-3d-bildschirme-auf-laser-basis/94629. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  7. ↑ "US7046272B2 - Autostereoscopic display". Google Patents. https://patents.google.com/patent/US7046272B2/en. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Thierry Labro (2023-10-18). "Three deeptech companies flying under the radar". Delano. https://delano.lu/article/three-deeptech-companies-flyin. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  9. ↑ "SeeReal presented H3D solutions in Taiwan". SeeReal Technologies. 2023-05-30. https://seereal.com/seereal-presented-h3d-solutions-in-taiwan. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  10. ↑ R. Häussler, A. Schwerdtner, N. Leister (2008). "Large holographic displays as an alternative to stereoscopic displays". Proceedings of SPIE, vol. 6803, Stereoscopic Displays and Applications XIX. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.766163. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 R. Häussler, Y. Gritsai, E. Zschau, R. Missbach, H. Sahm, M. Stock, H. Stolle (2017). "Large real-time holographic 3D displays: enabling components and results". Applied Optics, vol. 56, no. 13. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.56.000F45. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  12. ↑ "Did you know ... SeeReal's publication in Applied Optics was selected as a Spotlight on Optics by OSA in May 2017". SeeReal Technologies. 2017-05-19. https://seereal.com/did-you-know-seereals-publication-in-applied-optics-was-selected-as-a-spotlight-on-optics-by-osa-in-may-2017. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  13. ↑ "2018 European Holographic Display New Product Innovation Award conferred to SeeReal Technologies". SeeReal Technologies. 2018-11-12. https://seereal.com/2018-european-holographic-display-new-product-innovation-award-conferred-to-seereal-technologies. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  14. ↑ "The Saxony innovation price 2021 first place goes to ... SeeReal". SeeReal Technologies. 2021-07-19. https://seereal.com/sax. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  15. ↑ "Ausgezeichnete Innovationen aus Sachsen im Rampenlicht". Medienservice Sachsen. 2021-07-14. https://www.medienservice.sachsen.de/medien/news/254641. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  16. ↑ "Niemand ist allein erfolgreich - futureSAX-Alumni-Interview mit Hagen Stolle". futureSAX. https://www.futuresax.de/interviews/hagen-stolle-seereal-technologies/. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 M. Teich, T. Schuster, N. Leister, S. Zozgornik, J. Fugal, T. Wagner, E. Zschau, R. Häussler, H. Stolle (2022). "Real-time, large-depth holographic 3D head-up display: selected aspects". Applied Optics, vol. 61, no. 5. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.442924. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "SeeReal published selected aspects of Head-up display prototyping". SeeReal Technologies. 2022-03-04. https://seereal.com/seereal-published-selected-aspects-of-head-up-display-prototyping. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  19. ↑ "Communication moved to Luxembourg office". SeeReal Technologies. 2024-04-23. https://seereal.com/communication-moved-to-luxemburg-office. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  20. ↑ "SeeReal Technologies GmbH, Dresden, Germany, District Court of Dresden HRB 20721". North Data. https://www.northdata.com/SeeReal+Technologies+GmbH,+Dresden/HRB+20721. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Cloud for Holography and Cross Reality (CHARITY)". CORDIS, European Commission. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101016509. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  22. ↑ "US7839548B2 - Video hologram and device for reconstructing video holograms". Google Patents. https://patents.google.com/patent/US7839548B2/en. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 "Holographic 3D technology". SeeReal Technologies. https://seereal.com/technology. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  24. ↑ "How does it work ... SeeReal's holographic display principle in a nutshell". SeeReal Technologies. 2017-03-05. https://seereal.com/how-does-it-work-seereals-holographic-display-principle-in-a-nutshell. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  25. ↑ "What others wrote ... Learn more about how eye tracking plays a critical role in SeeReal 3D holographic technology for in-vehicle displays". SeeReal Technologies. 2022-11-11. https://seereal.com/learn-more-about-how-eye-tracking-plays-a-critical-role-in-seereal-3d-holographic-technology-for-in-vehicle-displays. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  26. ↑ Ullrich Hartung, Daniel Gloess, Jörg Neidhardt, Andy Drescher, Hagen Sahm, Philipp Büttner (2023). "Slim Backlights for Holographic 3D Displays by Advanced Coatings Capabilities". SID Symposium Digest of Technical Papers, vol. 54, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1002/sdtp.16536. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  27. ↑ "Report on SeeReal @ Display Summit 2017". SeeReal Technologies. 2017-11-07. https://seereal.com/report-on-seereal-display-summit-2017. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  28. ↑ "SeeReal initiated, together with partners, an EU-funded project called REALHOLO". SeeReal Technologies. 2021-03-03. https://seereal.com/seereal-initiated-together-with-partners-an-eu-funded-project-called-realholo. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  29. ↑ "REALHOLO". Fraunhofer IPMS. https://www.ipms.fraunhofer.de/en/Components-and-Systems/Components-and-Systems-Actuators/Optical-Actuators/spatial-light-modulators/REALHOLO.html. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  30. ↑ "SeeReal participates in an EU-funded project called CHARITY". SeeReal Technologies. 2021-03-03. https://seereal.com/seereal-participates-in-an-eu-funded-project-called-charity. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  31. ↑ "SeeReal joined 6G NeXt research consortium lead by Deutsche Telekom AG with focus on novel ways of video based communication". SeeReal Technologies. 2022-10-24. https://seereal.com/seereal-joined-6g-next-research-consortium-lead-by-deutsche-telekom. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
  32. ↑ Ingo Friese et al. (2023). "True 3D Holography: A Communication Service of Tomorrow and Its Requirements for a New Converged Cloud and Network Architecture on the Path to 6G". 2023 2nd International Conference on 6G Networking (6GNet). https://doi.org/10.1109/6GNet58894.2023.10317647. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
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