Stephen Anthony Benton (December 1, 1941 – November 9, 2003) was the E. Rudge ('48) and Nancy Allen Professor of Media & Sciences, and the Director for Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. He was the inventor of the rainbow hologram (Benton hologram) and a pioneer in medical imaging and fine arts holography. Benton held 14 patents in optical physics and photography, and taught media arts and sciences at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

Biography

Early life and education

Benton was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1941 and grew up in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

. He graduated from

Santa Barbara High School Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Dis ...

in 1959. Benton first became interested in optics at 11 when he wore a pair of 3-D glasses to view the

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

movie '' House of Wax''. He recalled, ''There was a realism and a sense of excitement like nothing I had ever felt before. Not only was I amazed, I determined then and there to figure out how it worked''. Benton received his undergraduate degree from

in electrical engineering (1963) and worked with Professor Harold "Doc" Edgerton, a pioneer in

stroboscopy A stroboscope, also known as a strobe, is an instrument used to make a cyclically moving object appear to be slow-moving, or stationary. It consists of either a rotating disk with slots or holes or a lamp such as a flashtube which produces br ...

. During his undergraduate career, Benton also worked with

Edwin H. Land Edwin Herbert Land, ForMemRS, FRPS, Hon.MRI (May 7, 1909 – March 1, 1991) was an Russian-American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. He invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a ...

, the co-founder of

Polaroid Corp. Polaroid may refer to: * Polaroid Corporation, an American company known for its instant film and cameras * Polaroid camera, a brand of instant camera formerly produced by Polaroid Corporation * Polaroid film, instant film, and photographs * Pola ...

and inventor of instant photography, in the company's vision research laboratory. Benton received his M.S. in 1964 and his Ph.D. in 1968 in

applied physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered to be a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Academic career

Benton remained at Harvard University as an assistant professor of applied optics until 1973. From 1980 to 1983, Benton returned to MIT as a visiting scientist in the Laser Research Center. While at MIT, he helped form the Spatial Imaging Research Group in 1982. In 1984, Benton joined the MIT faculty as a founding member of the

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...

, an interdisciplinary research laboratory at the

devoted to projects at the convergence of technology, multimedia, sciences, art and design. There, he made a lasting impression on his colleagues. "Steve brought a joy and spirit of inventiveness to all that he did," Charles M. Vest, MIT's president, said in a statement. "He was a gifted teacher, scientist, engineer, and artist who personified the best of MIT." Dr. Benton was the founding head of the MIT Program in Media Arts & Sciences from 1987 to 1994 and became the director for th
Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS)
in 1996. He remained the director of CAVS until his death in 2003.

Personal life

Benton was married to Jeanne L. Benton, a senior neuroscience researcher at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

. They have two children: James Benton and Julia Benton Pease as well as a grandchild, Emmett Stephen Benton Pease.

Inventions

White Light Transmission Hologram

In 1968, Benton began working on the rainbow hologram or the Benton hologram, at

Polaroid Corporation Polaroid is an American company best known for its instant film and cameras. The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit the use of its Polaroid polarizing polymer. Land ran the company until 1981. Its peak employment was 21,00 ...

. Rainbow holography makes use of common white light to visualize holograms rather than lasers, thereby leading "holography out of the lab". This type of hologram is commonly seen as the dove on the VISA card. The first rainbow hologram, termed "Motif 1," was presented on a 4-by-5-inch glass plate. It consisted of three chess pieces illuminated by a single white light bulb. Dr. Benton first presented his invention to the optical society in California in 1968. This discovery was also of great interest to the artistic community, as "fiercely bright images which could be manipulated in an artistic context were observed". Since the rainbow hologram was very easy to mass-produce, today, credit card companies and state agencies widely make use of rainbow holograms to deter counterfeiting of credit cards and identification cards. His research in holography helped in the advancement of holographic technology integral to medical imaging devices like CT and MRI scanners.

Real Image Holographic Stereograms

In 1988, Dr. Benton patented methods and devices for projecting and recording holographic

stereograms Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

. This invention utilized a semi-cylindrical "alcove" display system in front of which an image is projected. This provides the viewer with a wider angle of view compared to the traditional hologram (180 degrees compared to 30 degrees), allowing viewers to look around most of the image content.

Holographic Color Control Systems

Benton and his students optimized the production of

pseudocolor False color (or pseudo color) refers to a group of color Signal processing, rendering methods used to display images in color which were recorded in the visible spectrum, visible or non-visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A false-c ...

holograms, which was patented in 1989. This had implications as a way of rendering three dimensional computer generated designs.

Interactive Holographic Video System

In this invention, users are able to interact with and modify an electronic holographic image using a force-feedback (or haptic) device. This device can sense, report the position, and display appropriate forces to the user. The user can feel and modify specified shapes in the workspace. The haptic workspace is linked with the free-standing, spatial image displayed by a holographic video (holovideo) system. This interactive workspace allows a user to see, feel, and interact with synthetic objects that feel like real ones. The display allows these objects to become a part of the user's workspace.

Artwork

Not only was Stephen Benton an accomplished scientist, but also an artist. Benton thought of holography as an ''intersection of art, science and technology'' One of his works, ''Volumetric Rendering of Magnetic Resonance Imaging--Acquired Data'', Digital Hologram is currently on display at Brigham and Women's Hospital. His own works in holography have been displayed at the Museum of Holography on Mercer Street in Manhattan, where he was a curator. Currently, MIT holds the entire collection of Benton's holograms as the Museum of Holography went bankrupt in 1992.

Professional societies and other honors

1976 – 1977: President of the New England section of OSA 1980 – 1984: Chairman for the U.S. National Committee for the International Commission for Optics 1990 – 1993: Board of Directors for the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE) 1995: Vinci of Excellence Award at the International Science for Art competition 1999: Vice President for the Society for Imaging Science and Technology Board of Trustees for the Museum of Holography in New York Boards of Trustees for Rochester's Museum of Photography at Georges Eastman's House

References

External links

*
Holography pioneer Stephen Benton dies at 61
',

, November 12, 2003.
Video: Holography pioneer, Stephen Benton

. * *
Stephen A Benton's Obituary on 'Blog of Death'
',
Oral History interview transcript with Stephen Benton on 11 July 2003, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
- interview conducted by Sean F. Johnston at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benton, Stephen 1941 births 2003 deaths American inventors MIT School of Engineering alumni Harvard University alumni Holography MIT Media Lab people