Originally published at: How I became a hologram | Boing Boing
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Reminds one a bit of the recent discussion of the meaning of the word “gaslighting”. There’s the original narrow meaning and there’s the current ‘this kinda fits’ meaning. So it is with “hologram” here. To physics minded people (possibly of a certain age) a ‘hologram’ involves lasers providing multiple interference wavefronts to record/reconstruct an actual 3d image from a number of different observer’s viewpoints. But in popular culture it just means any effort to give the impression of a 3d image (see also Pepper’s Ghost). And so it is here: there’s a fine reflective mesh screen onto which this image is projected in real-time [one link]. (smoke or mist have been used as a screen this way as well) Probably to be sold for a pretty penny to certain corporate offices headed by someone who thinks of themselves as a promising emperor Palpatine stand-in [wink]
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But… but…there’s “proprietary reflective mesh” heh
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I think it’s worse than that. Most of these setups aren’t 3D at all, but just a 2D image that appears to be hanging in space rather than displayed on a conventional screen. Sometimes they can look reasonably good but usually they strike me as a cheap gimmick, especially since I work in the industry and know what to look for. I’ve always been more impressed by the classic, truly 3D peppers ghost effects like in the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ballroom scene.
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I thought all holographic citizens were required by law to display a big silver “H” on their foreheads.
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Yep. Whenever I see “3D interactive screen” it’s Pepper’s ghost every. single. time.
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Pepper’s ghosts can be 3D (the original ones used in stage effects all were) but most of these video ones aren’t. And many of them aren’t Pepper’s ghosts at all.
A real Pepper’s ghost involves viewing a reflection on a piece of glass that you can’t tell is there. Some of these “hologram” gimmicks like the one that ARHT uses involve projecting directly onto a scrim or special screen material, which isn’t quite the same thing.
I just read through AHRT’s patents (US9904066B2, among others). It’s frustrating because they accurately describes classical Pepper’s ghost techniques but then say that “typically, in recent applications, a projection device projecting onto polymeric film is used” which bugs the hell out of me because it’s definitely not the same as what Professor John Henry Pepper was doing in the 1800’s at all. A “scrim projection” would be a more accurate description.
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Yeah they definitely did try to pitch the “3D appearance” thing to me when I went in. I just ignored it as marketingspeak, cuz it was nonsense. But I was genuinely impressed with how organic the conversation felt once it got going (even if the guy I was talking to was a 2D light projection flickering in and out of reality)
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I would imagine that the conversations are slightly less natural feeling when they aren’t 1 on 1. I don’t think this 2D technology would let the projected person look at or point to a specific person in the audience, for example. (If looking directly at the camera their eyes would appear to be facing every member of the audience, not just the one they were addressing.)
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Yes!!! Every time I hear a reference to holograms which isn’t about pictures made by capturing the interference of two wavefronts I get grumpy as all get out.
I usually manage to stay quiet about it though, as I can probably find a better hill to die on. But the grumpiness persists.
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… or, technically, “a lie”
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Boffin’s beam forming kit opens the door to more realistic holograms
A research team led by MIT has developed anovel piece of kit that can drastically increase the speed and capability of optical beam forming technology and that’s easy to produce at scale.
If commercialized, the team’s new type of spatial light modulator (SLM) could open the way to super-fast LiDAR imaging for autonomous vehicles, improved medical scanners and even developing free-standing 3D holograms akin to those from Star Wars. Admittedly we’ll be waiting on that last one for a while.
[…]
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… "Jem called, asked if I wanted to be truly outrageous. "
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There were 3 of us in the room when we talked to the CEO. He had a monitor so he could see a camera feed of us on his end; as I saw in the green room I was in, that monitor is setup with markers for line-of-sight. So it did feel very much like he was turning to look at me when we spoke directly — which was kinda cool!
I am skeptical about how intimate that connection feels in a larger audience though. I sort of asked the company about it, and they claimed that a lot of audiences (allegedly) enjoyed the hologram presentations more. Specifically, they said it worked well for sales pitches, and medical teachings. They acknowledged that this was probably in part because a lot of presenters will incorporate 3D graphics into their holograms, making the whole experience more engaging and interactive than just someone standing on a stage and talking. But I’m skeptical about BIG events where some celebrity beams in to perform.
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Just don’t sell your image to Hollywood, as it can be a big problem…
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