Show of hands: How many of you had your minds blown when Anderson Cooper interviewed will.i.am via "hologram" on CNN last night? I've been pretty hard on CNN about its technical foul-ups in the past, but I've gotta hand it to them on this one — that was a cool trick. Sci-fi technology in living rooms across the nation? Now that's some change I can believe in.
But what exactly is the deal with this taste of Star Wars tech? Did Cooper really see a 3D representation of will.i.am, or was it all done with mirrors? Follow the Continue link to see how CNN added a taste of the future to its coverage.
Made possible by technology from SportVu and Vizrt, the setup is quite extensive. The person being projected into CNN's studio is shot on location by 35 high-def cameras in a ring. The cameras capture the subject's entire body image and transmit it to the studio, synced with cameras in the studio so the image moves properly. Both infrared as well as visual information are used to ensure the image is properly rendered. Dozens of computers on both sides are needed to process all the data for the system to work.
The result: a full-color 3D representation of a remote correspondent on the studio floor that the host at CNN headquarters can have an apparent face-to-face conversation with. The overall effect puts R2-D2's projector to shame, although it's not quite as polished as the holo-communicator on Deep Space Nine.
But what did Cooper actually see? It seems pretty clear from this video that the host in the studio is watching the monitor "behind" the hologram, and that the system isn't actually projecting a 3D image onto the studio floor. We're still a number of years too early for that, but recent developments in holographic tech might make that a reality by the time President Obama leaves office.
Via CNN
editor@dvice.com
By Dr. McKay at 2:52 PM ON 11/05/08
Still a few steps behind the technology we have back home on Atlantis, but still very good for being all-human designed! Actually, some of the technology is adopted from Asgard hologram projection technology, but you didn't hear that from me! Still wouldn't mind having one of these in my room, though.
By yamahog at 6:00 PM ON 11/05/08
Who watches CNN other than Obama?
By murc at 6:49 PM ON 11/05/08
YAMAHOG said "Who watches CNN other than Obama?"
other CNN employees of course.
By ronsleep at 1:33 AM ON 11/06/08
its too bad you had to waste a great tech event on s guest who is a rapper and not a statesman,like colin powell. shame on cnn
By aminpro at 5:18 AM ON 11/06/08
Bill Gates have once come to malaysia via hologram at the .. i dont remember it sounds like a tech IT confrence? maybe...but he does came here by hologram.. i think it's cool! it saves time and money!(for the fuel)
By Anonymous at 6:39 AM ON 11/06/08
@AMINPRO
Are you really suggesting that using this technology saves money?
By saris at 10:05 AM ON 11/06/08
Just imagine the amount of equipment and personnel it took to accomplish this slight-of-hand trick. No money saving here, just a neat trick.
By Hellpop at 10:46 AM ON 11/06/08
Damn, forget the equipment and personnel, imagine how much energy this wasted. Someone suggested this saved fuel? That may be, but it probably used a ton of other energy. People seem to forget, all energy has to come from somewhere and it all has a potential cost down the road. All these costs may not be evident right now, but they loom behind it all.
By The Manta Dude at 11:41 AM ON 11/06/08
pretty disappointed that scifi would go back to reporting blue screen tricks as something new .
and then the Jewish global news network , who still watches that annyway , biggest propaganda channel spreading lies even worse than former communist Russia ... but hey , its all possible deniability ... did i
I mean this or didn't I who knows I might not even be real ... or are we ? ask my other me maybe he knows , since god existst and santa and the easter bunny and spock and bender and Rodney
n Michael n a talking car .. bliep *
By Buddy Love at 12:08 AM ON 11/08/08
MCKAY! zomg u r the best.
I haven't watched your latest wacky adventure yet (the broadcast mission report on Sci-Fi channel in the guise of a 'tv show' *wink*).
By mgmann at 7:49 AM ON 11/09/08
It sounds a lot like the yellow line on the field that now appears regularly in football games. It appears to the tv viewers but not those in person therefore it would be hard to classify it as a true hologram, but a computer representation of a hologram like a computer representation of a line. Still has a use..... and as computing power requirements to do it drops in size and price - it will become more common. I'm more excited about Jeff Han's multi-touch media wall. That seems like something with hands-on use!!!!
By FXeng42 at 8:00 AM ON 11/09/08
Lame!!!! This isn't high tech! It wasn't even a hologram. It looked worse than the hologram effect in Star Wars and that came out in 1977. This was little better than a poorly executed blue screen effect. The media departments of Middle Schools could have pulled off this trick. Weak story Sci Fi channel. Let us know when someone actually produces a real hologram.
By darkamor at 9:27 AM ON 11/09/08
I have a great idea (using today's technology) - how about giving viewers the option to remove the t.v. station logo from the bottom of the fracking screen? (having a t.v. station logo get in the way of what you are trying to watch is so fracking annoying there are times I have to pull out my 1980's circa foam brick and throw it @ the damn screen)!!!
By boborlarry at 10:00 AM ON 11/09/08
Or for that matter how about removing those incessant lower third ads that pop up about ghost hunters... oops sorry sci fi. How come y'all are reporting on cnn's stuff anyway? Shouldn't you be supporting MSNBC?
By Darth_Rock at 5:26 PM ON 11/09/08
This is really not hologram technology... this is really just blue/green screen which has been in use for the past 30-40 years on TV. The blue outline of the 'projection' gives it away. True holography, you'd be able to walk around the 'projection'. I wan't really impressed with their idea of a hologram. So far, Disneyworld at the Haunted Mansion has the best I've ever seen.
By hornboy8d at 9:05 PM ON 11/09/08
OK, although the hologram is 3d, television ISN'T. This is a zero value addition to the news. It's neat, but not a very helpful place to implement it. It is no different to the viewer than seeing that person displayed on a screen next to the interviewer.
I like the tech, but until TV becomes 3D, it's wasted there.
By Fireknight at 11:26 AM ON 11/30/08
The word hologram is thrown around to easily here. This technology is no different the technology used to display the one yard line on Monday night football. The sutto 3D image that is being transmitted is then horribly keyed on a virtual studio inside a computer and then that image is mapped to the cameras. It's like a big toy that does one thing. In a couple of weeks this will be old news. But please it's not even close to a real hologram at all and shouldn't be in the same category. I could do the same thing with some well placed cameras and a green screen.