US media giant Time Warner has led a $27m Series B investment in 8i, a VR software company that specialise in human holograms, to support the launch of 8i’s mixed reality app Holo.

The Holo app, currently in early beta, is powered by Google’s Tango AR technology. It gives people the opportunity ‘to create mixed reality content with holograms of their favourite celebrities, brands, and characters’. It enables users to add holograms to real-world environments, and take photos and videos that can be shared.

The funding round, which took 8i’s total funding to $41m, also had participation from Baidu Venture, Hearst Ventures, Verizon Ventures, One Ventures, Carsten Maschmeyer’s Seed and Speed Ventures, as well as existing investors.

“As consumers are augmenting, mixing and creating new content on their smartphones on a massive scale, mobile presents an unparalleled opportunity for distribution of holograms,” said 8i CEO Steve Raymond. “We’re thrilled to have the strategic expertise and backing of leaders in media, technology, and communications as we bring audiences new ways to create and engage with content.”

8i recently gave attendees at the Sundance Film Festival the opportunity to meet a holographic version of Mad Men star Jon Hamm – to promote the Marjorie Prime feature film, where Hamm plays a hologram.