Superteam F: Holographic Imaging

Figure 1 - Holographic Al Gore
Source: http://www.digitalillusionsllc.com/Al_Gore.php

What is it?

Imagine presenting your firm’s new global strategy to the Seattle, Toronto and London offices at the exact same time without having to leave your New York office. Musion’s new revolutionary technology makes this possible, and places a 3D interactive image of yourself in all three locations. Musion Eyeliner technology transmits live holographic images of people with negligible time delay to anyone in the world that has the appropriate technology set up (Musion Holographic Telepresence). Conceptually, a hologram occupies no space, and is a virtual image of a being that talks, walks, and acts like a human but has no mass (Benton 2008). This means that the person presenting can appear from anywhere, from one side of the world to the other. This breakthrough technology offers businesses new opportunities to effectively communicate with more employees at an improved personal level, network with an increased number of companies, and present new conceptual designs to investors without the expensive cost of international travel and design development. This technology was used by US Vice-President Al Gore (Figure 1) during his Live Earth conference (Benton 2008), and was made famous by their representation of the late Tupac Shakur at the Coachella Music Festival in 2012. 

Who makes it 

Have you ever seen the movie “Back to the Future” and wondered when, if ever in the future, you would be able to transfer yourself to another time or place? Ian O’Connell and James Rock, founders of the innovative company Musion, have come close to making this possible with their revolutionary creation of holographic projection. Ian O’Connell has over 25 years of experience and was the founder and previous director of ITP Publishing. O’Connell is constantly focused on technological leadership and has demonstrated his knowledge and experience of holographic technology in Musion’s groundbreaking product and services. James Rock, on the other had, has used his experience in the live event industry to help construct many of Musion’s famous stage performances. Previous to Musion, Rock established the largest AV hire company in the Middle East and has worked on projects with HRH Prince Charles and Madonna (Musion About Us: Directors). 

Figure 2 - Snoop Dogg performing with Holographic Tupac

Source: http://popcrush.com/how-the-tupac-shakur-hologram

-worked-at-coachella/

How it works

Musion Eyeliner is a high definition holographic video projection system that creates the illusion of three-dimensional moving images on a live stage. A single HD image projector displays the image onto a reflective surface on the floor and creates this 3D optical illusion. The image then bounces back up onto a virtually invisible foil, which is stretched at 45 degrees across the front of the stage. This system allows real and virtual people to interact and share the stage (Musion Holographic Telepresence). Figure 2 illustrates how this technology used projectors, foil, and reflective mirrors to generate the holographic image of Tupac Shakur performing at Coachella 2012. Unfortunately, only the audience facing the metallic foil can see the 3-dimensional image, while additional stage-performers cannot. While being filmed, the person is projected onto a stage somewhere else as a holographic image of himself or herself. Large LED lights ensure the individual is well lit while a camera across the room transfers the image to the overhead projector in the viewing room. Finally, the system is an interactive fully functional telecommunication system that allows the person being filmed to see and hear the audience they are presenting to (Musion Holographic Telepresence).

How much does it cost? 

While the Musion 3D Eyeliner technology creates vast potential for cost reduction in international companies, the current price of acquiring the Eyeliner has many companies looking for alternatives. According to Personnel Today’s article “Could holographic technology revolutionize training and development?” the current cost is over $300,000 to purchase, and daily renting rates are $50,000 and above (Faragher 2013). The majority of this cost is made up of Musion’s special refracting screen. The remaining sum consists of special video projectors and audio equipment. The costs don’t just stop there however, as companies are required to have the necessary lighting and video capabilities. The Eyeliner technology is still financially out of the reach for smaller companies whose travel budget is not yet big enough to reap the rewards of holographic 3D teleconferencing. The technologies’ high price point positions the product’s consumer base towards large multinational companies. With purchase pricing being upwards of $300,000, only large multinationals such as Cisco can afford the investment. Rolling Stone magazine estimates that Coachella’s total production cost of incorporating Musion Technology was upwards of $100,000 (Rolling Stone 2012) 

Why is it important to business 

This technology has many applicable business applications in addition to the entertainment industry already discussed; for example, data visualization can be used for design and prototype demonstrations, which is an awesome asset in training and education for employees. Another example is holographic conferencing, which gives business executives an opportunity to make presentations in distant countries through virtual presence, reducing company travel costs and negative environmental effects. The 3-D effect that this creates cannot be seen through traditional videoconferencing. Moreover, holographic technology can be used for company training, where instructors can provide training from headquarters via holographic projection instead of physically gathering trainees. Additionally, the application of holographic technology will alter the entertainment industry; for example, a fashion show could be presented anywhere in the world and broadcasted to anyone. With the current trend of businesses looking to adopt a more flexible approach, many observers see holographic technology as the way forward to cut back on costs and reduce carbon emission (Winslow 2007). Overall, this technology is changing traditional communication as we know it but with a high price widespread use in the near future is unlikely. 

Below is an example of a real business application of the Musion holographic technology from Telstra CEO David Thodey: 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3jhFXmNUt8 

Bibliography

Blog 

Benton, Stephen. "Holographic Conferencing: The Future of Tomorrow ." The Holography Times (New Delhi), June 1, 2008. http://www.homai.org/AdminPanel/PDF/Vol%202,%20Issue%203.pdf (accessed February 20, 2013). 

Faragher, Jo. “Could holographic technology revolutionise training and development?” Personnel Today, February 14, 2013. http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/14/02/2013/59189/could-holographic-technology-revolutionise-training-and.htm (accessed February 24th, 2013). 

"Holographic Conferencing." Core77 design magazine & resource. June 18, 2008. http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/holographic_conferencing_10227.asp (accessed February 24, 2013). 

Musion. “ About Musion: Directors.” Musion World Leaders in Holographic Projection Technology and Telepresence. http://www.musion.co.uk/#!/about-musion/team (accessed February 9, 2013).

Musion. “Holographic Telepresence”. Musion World Leaders in Holographic Projection Technology and Telepresence. http://www.musion.co.uk/#!/products-services/telepresence (accessed February 27, 2013). 

“Report: Tupac Hologram at Coachella Cost at Least $100K”. Rolling Stone Magazine, April 16, 2012. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/report-tupac-hologram-at-coachella-cost-at-least-100k-20120416 (accessed February 20th, 2013). 

Winslow, Lance. "Holographic Conferencing Technologies-Preventing Travel to Stop Global Warming." Ezinearticle. http://ezinearticles.com/?Holographic-Conferencing-Technologies---Preventing-Travel-to-Stop-Global-Warming&id=553629 (accessed February 20, 2013). 

Podcast 

"A T & T Telepresence Video Conferencing, What is Telepresence?” att.com. http://www.business.att.com/enterprise/Family/unified-communications/telepresence-solutions.htm (accessed February 18, 2013) 

Musion Eyeliner Holograms “Toyota Auris Launch.” http://www.eyeliner3d.com/toyota_auris_launch.html (accessed February 18, 2013)  - *Broken link, URL is not correct as discussed with Rebecca Grant*

Personnel Today “Could holographic technology revolutionise training and development?” http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/14/02/2013/59189/could-holographic-technology-revolutionise-training-and.htm (accessed February 18, 2013). 

PR Web: Online Visibility From Vocus. “Toyota Launch Uses Musion's 3D Hologram Projection at Bluewater Shopping Centre.” http://www.prweb.com/releases/toyota/hologram/prweb500462.htm (accessed February 18, 2013)