The International Hologram Manufacturers Association has once again recognised and awarded outstanding holographic solutions among the ecosystem, with the judging committee being especially impressed by suppliers that continued the integration of traditional holograms with newer technologies.
The judges were looking for innovation that collided with commercially viable solutions to meet the criteria for authentication or security printing.
With those solutions that branched into new applications and markets, they ticked a number of boxes for enhanced design, augmented packaging and secure authentication.
The full list of winners included:
- Best Origination – QUANTUM – Inspired by Nature, Meta Materials Inc (Canada)
- Best Innovation in Holographic Technology – PicoMaster Single and Multiple Beam Direct Write Lithography, Raith Laser Systems B.V. (Netherlands)
- Best Applied Security Product – Green LongLife RollingStar® Hologram Micromirror LEAD Mix, Louisenthal (Germany)
- Best Display or Emerging Technology Application of Holography – Snapshot CHIMERA® Holographic Portraits, Hologram Centre (Korea)
- Best in Show (new category for 2024 based on the highest score of all the submissions) – QUANTUM – Inspired by Nature, Meta Materials Inc (Canada)
The ‘Best Applied Security Product’ was awarded to a banknote security specialist firm that achieved a holistic approach to counterfeit resistance.
Companies experimented with reinvention of the hologram design, incorporating a micromirror feature to modernise layers of micro (holo) and macro (mirror) structures and colour patterns,, giving 3D dimensions.
Each design was judged for readability under authentication technology, even in low light and resistance to counterfeiting.
Chair of the IHMA, Dr Paul Dunn commended the quality of entries, saying: “What’s clear to see in this year’s crop of winners is that the speed of technical evolution continues unabated, particularly developments in digital technologies which will probably be the most significant to impact the future of anti-counterfeiting solutions next year and beyond”.
