Hologram specialist Holoptica expands into Europe

US hologram specialist Holoptica has opened a European sales and marketing office - based in the UK - that will extend its global presence.

A new UK company (Holoptica Pty Ltd) has also been established which will be headed by David Niven, formerly of Hague Security Print and Optaglio Ltd, who has more than 15 years of hologram and security print sales experience in numerous markets, including Europe, the Middle-East and Africa (EMEA).

Holoptica is a California-headquartered group that includes two US divisions - Holoptica and Segment Security - alongside partnered Australian units Brand Integrity International and DNA Technologies.

The company also has a sales office in South Africa and is also planning to set up in the Philippines, Canada and Paraguay.

At the same time as the geographical expansion, Holoptica says it has launched holoQR - short for holographic QR - which it claims is a "totally new concept in QR codes" for brand protection, product recognition and document security applications.

The holoQR product is a high security hologram that has an embedded QR code and so is verifiable using a smartphone. The QR code is one of the embossed holographic elements, and is not printed, laminated or otherwise added to the hologram.

For additional added protection and security, holoQR also contains synthetic DNA and a unique PIN code which is printed or lasered into the hologram, according to the company. It also features holographic security features, some of which are overt and others which are covert for forensic inspection and verification.