GE Demonstrates Holographic Storage

General Electric researchers have demonstrated a material that the company says could be used to make holographic storage media about the size of DVDs that can store 500 gigabytes of data, or about 100 DVDs' worth of information. In principle, holographic storage media should store more information than ordinary DVDs because they will use three dimensions of space for storage rather than two, as DVDs do. "Our technology will pave the way for cost-effective, robust, and reliable holographic drives that could be in every home," says Brian Lawrence, the leader of GE's holographic storage program.