Real and virtual worlds combine in India

You open a door, pass through and close it behind you - nothing unusual except this door is nothing more than a hologram.

This futuristic vision is almost here says Indian outsourcer Satyam as it unveiled a technology to blend the real and virtual worlds at its R&D labs in Chennai in southern India.

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The cutting-edge kit will allow people to step into a 3D holographic image and interact with it as if they were standing in their own kitchen, allowing them to pick up holographic balls or open holographic doors.

The nascent technology will pair a holographic projector with grids of sonar sensors that measure a person's movement and position within the virtual space.

A major military power is already considering using the system for a virtual battle simulator, and there is also interest from a large player in the aerospace industry.

Satyam has a 2D prototype up and running in Chennai that allows people to play the piano by walking over an image projected on the floor, which is constantly monitored by 64 sonar sensors in the ceiling.

Venkatesh Chandrasekaran, head of automotive research and development at Satyam, said his team had been working on it for a year and a half and that it could have a range of applications from entertainment to simulation.

He said: "It is proving popular with the employees' children who we sometimes bring in here to experiment with what we do."

The holographic system will use multiple sensor grids to build a virtual 3D version of you by firing sonar at you and measuring how long it takes to bounce of your body, allowing it to co-ordinate your actions with the holographic image.