San Diego-based tech company IKIN is working on a way to let you turn videos, games and apps on your smartphone into holograms you can interact with.

"People for years have thought of holographic communication as sort of idealized magical future and that is actually 2021," said Scott, now 28, who is also IKIN's chief technology officer.

When tech exec Joe Ward met Scott in 2017, "he had developed a product which would allow holograms to exist in ambient light with no headgear and no goggles," said Ward, who left his then-current job to found IKIN with Scott that year.

But a platform that would allow software developers to make use of the IKIN's technology was "really appealing to me," Ward said.

IKIN will create holographic content itself – it has already developed games along with tech demos – but the expectation is that developers of smartphone apps will license the technology.

Consumers will buy the accessory, an attachment designed to match the smartphone's dimensions, so it "literally becomes a secondary portal into a dimensional world," Scott said.

Videoconference calls and meetings could have real-world depth. "It has a lot of applications outside gaming," Ward said.

When he saw a demonstration of IKIN's holographic smartphone technology, the clarity surprised James Brehm, founder and analyst for the internet of things research and consulting firm James Brehm & Associates. 

"Carriers need 5G applications," Brehm said

The company is already developing bigger holographic applications with larger imaging. IKIN, which has raised more than $13 million, is seeking strategic partnerships to raise at least another $10 million