Intel and Nokia are using a joint development facility to work on Star Wars-style holographic technology.
The research center, which opened yesterday, will determine the viability of technologies allowing a 3D hologram to be projected to the person at the other end of the phone, as part of broader research into 3D user interfaces for the duo’s MeeGo platform.
Around 24 R&D staff will be based at the Joint Innovation Center, which is based at the University of Oulu, Finland.
Nokia's chief technology officer, Rich Green, said 3D interfaces promise to be more natural and intuitive than the 2D ones in use today.
The lab opened a day after chip maker Qualcomm established a new R&D subsidiary to develop mobile services and technologies.
Qualcomm Services Labs (QSL) launched with four services earlier this week, including a location sharing service, social networking app, a URL shortening tool for content providers, and a social recommendation service.