Commemorative Exhibition of Historical Maps

Chief-of-Staff Gen. M. Kostarakos and HiH Director A. Lembessis

In the context of national celebrations on the 100th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Thessaloniki during the 1912 Balkan Wars, the Hellenic Institute of Holography participated in the exhibition organized at the War Museum of the city titled 'Historical Maps of the Period 1912-1913'. This exhibition was officially opened on Sep 7th by the Minister of Makedonia/Thrace Mr. Th. Karaoglou in the presence of Minister of Environment & Climatic Change Mr. Ev. Livieratos, of the City Mayor Mr. J. Boutaris and of the Chief of Greek Defence Gen. Mich. Kostarakos; it lasted until the end of Nov 2012 after several extensions on account of its popularity with visitors. Historical exhibits from the National Geographical Service of the Greek Army, from the National Center of Chartographic Heritage and from private collectors (such as Mr. Garyfalou, Demertzis, Papaioannou and Nikoltsios) were enriched with the state-of the-art contribution of HiH in terms of digital holographic maps, auto-stereoscopic monitors and optical clones of memorabilia. Photos from the opening ceremony can be found at the official webpage of the Hellenic National Defence whereas a brief description of the historical exhibits can be read here (Greek only).

Among the various exhibits, the OptoClone^© (optical clone) of a tin model of an EVZON soldier in the national 1912 uniform recorded as a full-colour analog hologram attracted particular interest. The original strictly collectible model was manufactured in Spain in a very limited number of copies especially for this unique occasion and for the exclusive use of the Hellenic National Defence Gerenal Staff. Its visual capture on a commemorative hologram was done by Andreas SARAKINOS at the HiH Z-Lab with the use of the proprietary transportable setup ZZZyclops and this unique item was donated to the Chief of Staff of The Greek Defence Gen. M. Kostarakos in an official meeting following the closure of the exhibition.

However, the focus of the HiH exhibits in this thematic chartographic exhibition could be no other than the progressive results of various joint projects materialized in cooperation with the Greek Army in the form of digital holographic prints of geographical maps:

• River Evros area (2010).  A trial holographic map size 600x600mm, with horizontal parallax and in 3-channels printed by GEOLA, for which freely available geographical data were used. Developed in cooperation with Lt. Col. Babis Paraschou, Chief Geospatial Officer of the NATO Deployment Corps (NDC-GR) based at the city of Thessaloniki. This project was presented to an international audience at the DGI-2012 conference (Defence Geospatial Intelligence) (see the presentaion here).

• Island of Kos - Dodecanese (2011).  A large holographic map size 1260x500mm, in horizontal parallax, printed by GEOLA, for which real sattelite classified data were used. Developed in cooperation with the Greek Army Geographical Service under the supervision of Brigadier B. Mittas, this map was exhibited on loan from the Museum of the Military Geo-services in Athens.

• Island of Antiparos - Cyclades (2012). A 360^o holographic map size 290x290mm, in full vertical and horizontal parallax, printed on photopolymer material by ZEBRA IMAGING (USA), for which relief contour data from the National Kadaster were used. Developed in cooperation with the Greek Military Geo-services under the supervision of its director Col. G. Siantikos, this map was the result of a diploma dissertation (see it here in Greek) by Cpt. D. Goulas for the Photogrammetry Laboratory at the Dept. of Topography of the National Technical University (EMP - Prof. Andr. Georgopoulos)

Evros river area (2010)

Kos island (2011)

Antiparos island (2012)

A 45'' autostereoscopic monitor used for the impressive glasses-free presentation of 3-dimensional maps was also at the centerpiece of the HiH exhibits along with an entertainment digital hologram from the Institute's collection for the visiting school students.

The Hellenic Institute of Holography expects this cooperation with the Greek Military to continue in spite of the present financial contraints as a confirmation of the indispensable need to closely follow the technological developments and progress in the field of applied holography.

Holographic Maps

Αndreas SARAKINOS at the opening

The official invitation to the opening of the exhibition