Abstract
There has been wide interest and even enthusiasm towards 3D and mid-air displays for well over a century. Recently many kinds of "holographic" displays have been seen in sci-fi movies like Star Wars" etc. Media or 3D display manufacturers nowadays often claim that a specific novel display is like the ones seen in Star Wars. We survey and assess if, how and to what extent the Star Wars mid-air displays are realizable with contemporary display technology, what are the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, and when we can expect the mid-air displays to take over the display market.