Proto Gets Canadian Patent For Its Hologram-Ish Video Display Device And Method

March 24, 2023 by Dave Haynes

The company that first came up with the concept of using large transparent LCDs to create hologram-ish visual experiences has added Canada to its patent profile, building off the US patent it secured last year.

LA-based Proto Inc. says its display and communications platform has had its 2022 USPTO patent recognized by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s department of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development. Canadian patent #3146969 is for “a holographic display device and methods of use for displaying a hologram-like image on a transparent monitor positioned at the front end of a three-dimensional interior lit display box.”

The core product is a shower stall-sized and shaped display and enclosure that uses clever lighting and video capture to create the real-time illusion that a person is right in front of viewers, at life-size, even though they may be in a studio an ocean away.

“This recognition of the originality of Proto’s hardware and methods means so much to our whole team of executives and engineers,” says Proto inventor and CEO David Nussbaum. “Canada has been home to some truly memorable accomplishments for Proto – this patent will help us protect our IP and continue to innovate.”

Since Proto was spun up in 2018, initially as Portl, the company has seen several other companies pop up offering similar hardware products and experiences. I’m aware of ones in China, the Netherlands and UK, as well as a Canadian company called ARHT Media that perhaps has a particular interest in this new patent. I don’t know if ARHT has its own product or a white-label of another tech company, from outside of Canada. I know the Dutch firm HereWeHolo and ARHT collaborated on that virtual appearance by Ukraine’s president last year.

I also know next to nothing about the efficacy of patents.