FlexiVol, a prototype from Spain, lets users interact with projected 3D objects—no headset required. Could this signal a new interface for ecommerce?
A Spanish research team built FlexiVol, the first display that lets you “touch” holograms. It’s early days—but here’s why it might matter.
What is FlexiVol?
FlexiVol is a new kind of volumetric display out of Spain’s Public University of Navarra. It’s not a hologram in the Star Wars sense—but it is a physical display that lets you reach into thin air and manipulate projected 3D objects with your hands.
No headset. No gloves. Just a stretchy screen you can push and pinch like a floating touchscreen.
At its core, FlexiVol uses elastic diffuser strips instead of the usual rigid oscillating surfaces. The team tested multiple materials and landed on a flexible setup that preserves visual quality while letting users interact safely with the image.
Here’s the paper, and a video demo if you want to see it in action.
What it actually does
Researchers ran comparison tests between FlexiVol and a 3D mouse. Eighteen people were asked to:
- Select an object
- Trace an object
- Dock one object inside another
Results? FlexiVol was faster for selection and docking, and equally fast but more accurate for tracing. More importantly, users said it felt more natural and intuitive—closer to how we already interact with phones and tablets.
Again, sample size was small and it’s still a prototype, but the findings were consistent.
Why it could matter for ecommerce
Let’s be clear: this is not a product you can buy or roll out next quarter. It’s an R&D prototype. But if FlexiVol (or something like it) scales, it opens up some interesting use cases:
- Retail displays: Let shoppers explore product features in 3D without touching real inventory.
- Product customization: Let customers configure and rotate items mid-air—color, size, features.
- Training or onboarding: Walk through a warehouse system or product assembly step-by-step.
- Collaborative design: Engineers or merchandisers manipulating digital prototypes without needing a headset or stylus.
The kicker is the multi-user potential. Unlike VR, you don’t need goggles or controllers, so multiple people can interact with the same display at once. That’s big for retail spaces, B2B showrooms, or education.
Current limitations
FlexiVol is still very much a lab project. The display area is small—just 19x19x8 cm. It can only be accessed from the top. Distortions still occur when the elastic diffusers flex. And no, there’s no real haptic feedback yet—just the physical tension of the elastic surface.
The team is working on:
- Scaling up the display volume to ~1 square meter
- Reducing visual distortion with smarter projection timing
- Exploring haptic effects with ultrasound or conductive threads
They’ll present the tech at CHI 2025 in Yokohama, alongside teams from Meta, Microsoft, and Apple.
Operator POV
This won’t replace the touchscreen or your Shopify theme anytime soon. But it’s worth watching.
The ecommerce interface hasn’t changed much since the iPhone dropped. Touchscreens are flat. Mouse cursors still dominate desktop UX. VR never really broke through beyond niche use cases.
FlexiVol points to a potential shift—not toward “the metaverse”, but toward more tactile, spatial interaction with digital stuff. If the tech matures and the cost comes down, it could be a new layer of interaction for in-store retail, pop-ups, or premium brand experiences.
Bottom line:
Keep your expectations low, but your radar on. This isn’t ready for prime time, but if it scales, it could create a new UX category somewhere between touchscreen and VR.
