The security hologram trade body kept its glossary after rebranding

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What the organisation documents, as retrieved

The organisation's own history page states it was "established in 1993 as the International Hologram Manufacturers Association," and that in 2024 it "underwent a significant expansion and rebranding to become the International Optical Technologies Association," widening its scope from hologram makers to optical security suppliers generally. The same page describes it as "a not-for-profit membership organisation registered in the UK," representing "the world's leading suppliers of optical security technologies," and running a Security Image Register for members' holographic and optically variable designs. Its current home page confirms the same IOTA branding and membership footing in shorter form. Because this is a live organisational site rather than a dated publication, what follows describes it as it read on 16 September 2026, not as a fixed historical record.

How the glossary separates real optics from stagecraft

The glossary itself defines a volume hologram, "otherwise known as a Bragg diffraction hologram," as recorded in material thicker than the light's wavelength, and a "Zero Order Device" as built from sub-wavelength gratings below 400 nanometres that can be produced by embossing. Both are genuine recorded diffraction structures. The same glossary then defines "Holopresence" as "real-time transmitted realistic images that appear solid to the viewer and that the viewer can interact with," but demotes a "Holographic Avatar" to "pre-recorded images that are played back as a projection under controlled lighting and audience conditions," and a "Holoportal" to nothing more than "a constructed box or theatre rigging." That hierarchy is a security industry drawing its own line between an optical hologram and a staged illusion sold under a similar name — exactly the distinction this site's editorial policy insists on.

What the glossary does not settle

No page opened for this entry defines the bare word "hologram" as a standalone headword; the concept only appears inside compound terms built for authentication professionals, not display designers. The 2024 widening of scope beyond holography also means future glossary editions could dilute hologram-specific precision as more unrelated optical technologies are folded in, an editorial risk worth flagging rather than assuming away. The domain's own redirect, from the old ihma.org address to iot-association.org, is itself a small dated trace of the rebrand rather than proof of when every internal definition was last revised.

• Does any current page define plain "hologram" as a headword, rather than only in compounds like Zero Order Device?
• How does IOTA's widened remit change which technologies count as a member's core specialism?
• Would a specific vendor's marketed "holographic" product meet IOTA's own Holopresence definition, or only its Holographic Avatar one?

A trade body's glossary is strong evidence of how the security-print industry itself sorts real holograms from look-alike effects, and weak evidence of anything beyond that industry's own current membership and scope.