(Business 2.0) – Science-fiction fans may feel they already know about "holographic storage," having witnessed Princess Leia's desperate, recorded plea to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. Alas, that's not quite the use envisioned for this new optical technology, but its effect can be, in its way, almost as miraculous--a 40-fold increase in the amount of data that can be stored on a DVD.

Holographic storage techniques use laser pulses to write data onto light-sensitive polymers, as does ordinary DVD technology. But unlike current systems, which read data only from the surface of storage media, holographic systems exploit the material's entire depth.

So far, two startups have taken the lead: Bell Labs spinoff InPhase Technologies and Massachusetts-based Aprilis, which has roots in Polaroid's hologram initiatives. Both developed high-tech polymers that can store data in three dimensions. Their DVD-size discs have 200-gigabyte capacity--enough to let a movie lover store 40 two-hour movies or a compliance officer archive four days' worth of e-mail from 5,000 stockbrokers. The technology has already attracted the interest of electronics giants Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba, which could begin selling holographic discs by 2005. Of course, R2-D2 will be sold separately. --MATTHEW MAIER