Telecoms group Altice and Leia, a spin-off of HP Labs, partnered “to bring the first holographic handsets to the European market before the end of 2017”.

The partnership is said to combine Leia’s “Holographic Reality” technology platform with Altice’s content and media ecosystem. It will provide “an entirely new digital experience via the sharing of 3D selfies, holographic video communication, interactive games and a host of other special apps”.

The resulting device will be distributed through SFR in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, Hot and Hot Mobile in Israel, Portugal Telecom, and Orange Dominicana in Dominican Republic.

In a statement, it was said that the US technology company “leverages recent breakthroughs in Nano-Photonic design and manufacturing to provide a complete Holographic display platform through the use of special hardware and complementary software”.

This enables it to create dynamic 3D holograms and to sense fingers to manipulate virtual objects in the air.

David Fattal, founder and CEO of Leia, said: “With the convergence of the cloud, connectivity and artificial intelligence, the world is rapidly evolving under our eyes. Combining Leia’s holographic platform with Altice’s impressive content, service and media ecosystem, we are poised to give our customers the best possible experience of this new digital age.”