Holoxica, a leading holographic technology firm based in Edinburgh, has entered into liquidation due to cashflow challenges. The company had attracted international interest for its cutting-edge technology, but despite grant funding and support from the Scottish Government, it could not continue without significant investment. Now, the company’s technology and intellectual property will be put on the market, and its liquidators are hoping it will attract strong interest.
Shona Campbell, the insolvency partner at business advisory and accountancy firm Henderson Loggie, has been appointed as the liquidator of Holoxica. She cited changes in trading conditions due to Brexit and the pandemic as the cause of the company’s cash flow challenges.
Holoxica CEO Wendy Lamin expressed her pride in the company’s technology and achievements but acknowledged that it had been a challenging environment for small businesses. “We have attracted global interest in our technology,” she said. “It has the potential to change the face of medical consultations and teaching at scale, reduce waiting lists and costs for the NHS, and has proven applications in commerce, telecom, and defense.”
Lamin added that Holoxica had shown there was a more natural and collaborative way to do 3D holograms and the metaverse besides using virtual reality and augmented reality headsets, but it required scale-up investment. “We don’t have the huge marketing budgets of Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and others,” she said. “We have been just ahead of the times.”
Holoxica was founded in 2008 to develop dynamically changeable holographic displays where multiple people could experience full-color motion video 3D images simultaneously without wearing headsets. Its world-firsts included a pioneering holographic 3D anatomy atlas.
In 2019, the company pivoted from hardware to software, launching Telepresence (2020) and Telexistence (2021) technologies to allow full two-way 3D video conferencing and remote 3D visualization with robotics or haptics. More recently, Holoxica had seen international interest in using its technology for providing emergency medical care in space, meaning astronauts could work with medical experts on the ground using 3D videoconferencing.
Meanwhile, Holoxica’s defense tech allowed a human operator to be fully immersed and remotely ‘telepresent’ by using robots in hazardous situations such as bomb disposal, de-mining, or nuclear decommissioning. In 2022, it developed a Human Digital Twin concept demonstrator for the UK Defense Science and Technology Laboratory and Qinetiq.
According to Shona Campbell, Holoxica had developed innovative and respected technology and market-ready products that had attracted significant grant funding and interest from global brands and defense organizations, but it could not continue trading without further investment. “It offers organizations with existing market reach in 3D visualization and medical imaging the opportunity to acquire valuable intellectual property, both in hardware and software,” she said.
Despite the challenges faced by Holoxica, its technology has clearly shown its potential to revolutionize the way we experience and interact with 3D holographic displays. Its applications in medical consultations, teaching, emergency medical care, and defense are just a few examples of the vast possibilities that could be unlocked with further investment and marketing efforts.
It is a pity that Holoxica could not continue to thrive, but its liquidation offers an opportunity for others to benefit from the company’s innovative technology and intellectual property. It will be interesting to see who steps up to acquire these valuable assets and potentially take the holographic technology industry to the next level.