The latest technology to come out of the Japanese research labs is this amazing prototype 'True 3D' Laser Projector produced by the team at Burton Incorporated.  It projects dots in mid air by focusing the laser beam to excite the oxygen and nitrogen particles.  Using this method it can plot shapes out in real 3D space.

It is capable of display up to 50,000 dots per second and is able to process at between 10 and 15 frames per second.  The team are currently working on increasing this frame rate to a more realist 30 frames per second.  The technology was actually first announced in 2006 but is only now coming to fruition.  Real life lightsabers and holodecks might be closer than you think!

You can find out more about the technology and device in question by visiting Burton Incorporated or the link from the DigInfo.TV site.