While recent hologram technology has helped bring deceased artists back to life, they require complex mirror and light systems, and cost a fortune to create. Our fantasies of holograms in our pockets — that is projected from smartphones, tablets and watches — has been but a dream.

A California company based in Carlsbad called Ostendo Technologies Inc., however, could hold the key to bringing that sci-fi fantasy into reality.

According to the The Wall Street Journal, Ostendo has developed a tiny Tic Tac-sized projector that can project visible 3D holograms without requiring dorky 3D glasses.

The Ostendo Quantum Photonic Imager "fuses an image processor with a wafer containing micro light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, alongside software that helps the unit properly render images."