Barcelona - Holographic Museum Museu d'Holografia

The Museu d'Holografia is the first of its kind in Spain. This little museum, resembling a gallery, is reached from the Plaça Sant Jaume through the Carrer Jaume I, where the entrance to the first building opens off on the left.

Holography is a new achievement in three-dimensional pattern-producing techniques which only became fully practicable following the development of lasers.

Objects wrapped in plastic sheets and subjected to interference between a coherent light-beam and light defracted from the same beam by the object produce a solid-looking picture (also in color). According to the position of the observer and the angle at which the light falls, the foreground and background appear to move closer or further away, various degrees of movement being detectable.

The impression produced by the hologram set up on the first floor (be careful of the cross-beam in the stairwell!) is truly breathtaking: it may be a confusion of spiral springs and wood-shavings shooting out of the frame, a large flower springing towards the observer or the portrait of a Rocker who suddenly spits large splinters of glass out of his mouth - the illusion (without the need for special spectacles or anything like that) is complete.

On the ground floor there is a large selection of holograms for sale, ranging from cheap plaques to larger items costing thousands of pesetas or more (up to 40 x 50cm/16 x 20in in size).