The museum, in Simi Valley, Calif., has taken the wraps off a set of three-dimensional holographic images of America's 40th President. Viewers don't need special glasses to view the images.

The museum picked three scenes to illustrate Reagan's life:

• He's speaking from the back of a train in 1984, campaigning for re-election
• He's at his California ranch, attired appropriately
• He's in the Oval Office, wearing a suit and tie.

The museum opened in 1991 and now attracts 400,000 visitors a year, officials said, anticipating that that number would increase after the advent of the hologram. It is thought to be the first of its kind at an American presidential museum.

Quite a bit of high-tech research was involved in the creation of the hologram, which the producers wanted to get just right. They tried hiring actors who approximate Reagan's famous movements and mannerisms but eventually had to start from scratch. Engineers hired a well-known sculptor to make a bust of Reagan; they then used high-tech scanners to take images from all sides. The last step was to digitally connect head to body, which was where the actor re-entered the "picture." After extensive reviews of the well-known actor and President's speeches and interviews, they had something they could work with; the final step was using the kind of special effects seen only in movies.

The ranch scene shows Victory, a golden retriever that Reagan liked so much. Producers used a real golden, named Rusty, to act the part for filming.

Reagan, as visitors to the museum discover, became famous as an actor and radio host long before he was a politician. One of his most famous memorable roles was in the film Knute Rockne: All American, in which Reagan played George Gipp, one of the best players on the 1920s football teams of Notre Dame coach Rockne. In the film, Gipp asked Knocke to inspire the players by exhorting them to "win one for the Gipper." The film was popular, Reagan was given the nickname the Gipper, and he used it throughout his life.