In the late-1970s, the American Business Machines Corporation (ABM) developed a process for transferring holographic images to a two-dimensional plane without losing the essence of the third dimension. When viewed from a fairly narrow angle directly in front of the two-dimensional plane, the object depicted in the picture appears to be floating in space as a true three dimensional body. Commercial application of this technology was not in the mainstream of ABM's lines of business, but management considered it worth pursuing because of its potential applications. ABM spent approximately $12 million developing the technology and, in the spring of 1999, employed a Boston marketing research firm to assess the market potential for the product. To the horror and amazement of ABM, the marketing experts' conclusion was that the market segment that would be interested in such a product was virtually nonexistent. Three-dimensional photography has been around the marketplace for over 30 years, hearkening back to the days of "3-D" movies and comic books that required the viewer to wear special glasses, and most people consider it to be nothing more than a gimmick. The general response of the marketing research firm was to question the overall fiscal viability of such an undertaking. Taken aback by this unanticipated conclusion, management decided to drop the project before full-scale production began and any more costs were incurred.

Eleanor Dale, the project director for this research, had more faith in the product than in the marketing research team and its conclusions. She pointed out that the survey used as a basis for their conclusions was conducted by telephone, but the emotional essence of holography is a purely visual phenomenon. Hence, it is impossible to capture the consumer's true feelings about the product without using a test instrument keyed to visual responses. She remained convinced that true three-dimensional (3-D) holographically produced photographs would one day he viewed as more than just a novelty and would he recognized as a legitimate medium for unique expression on a par with painting or regular photography. A Baltimore-based investment banking firm agreed with Dale and helped to form a syndicate of investors who put up $10 million to purchase all of ABM's rights to the holographic photography process and to establish a manufacturing facility for Visual Imagery, Inc., the new company formed to exploit the process.