Special section guest editorial: Practical holography: New procedures, materials, and applications

Since its invention, holography has been valued for its great potential in 3-D imaging and display. Huge efforts have been spent to investigate and develop it as a real 3-D tool. At the same time, during the pioneering age of holography in the 1970s, the research community was aware that holography had potential in metrology thanks to the invention of holographic interferometry.