You’ve probably seen a movie in which a character pulls up a hologram display that they can poke, prod, and manipulate as easily as you could mess with a real object sitting on a desk in front of you.

The idea is so ubiquitous in science fiction that it’s become nearly synonymous with the word “hologram.” In almost every news story written about hologram technology and how far it has come, at some point, a disclaimer has to be made explaining that ‘it’s not quite Tony Stark tech, but it’s still cool!’