- Swiss watch boss Christoph Grainger-Herr appeared in holographic form when Swiss watch boss, Christoph Grainger-Herr, was unable to fly to a global trade show in China because of Covid-19 restrictions.
- The portals cost from $60,000 (£45,000) each, so they are certainly expensive, although the company says they can be rented for considerably less.
- Next year it is launching a device that you clip to your mobile phone, and it will project into the air a transparent 3D hologram of the person you have having a video call with.
When Christoph Grainger-Herr, the CEO of a Swiss watch company, was unable to fly to a worldwide trade fair in China because of Covid-19 limitations, he decided to beam in Star Trek-style as reported by BBC.
3D hologram
Mr Grainger-Herr, the chief executive of luxury brand IWC, had been due to travel to the Watches and Wonders event in Shanghai back in April.
When that became impossible, instead, he decided to join the show as a life-size, 3D hologram.
Appearing in 4K resolution, he was able to talk to and see and hear the people who were physically attending the event.
“He did his thing, chatted to other executives, and even unveiled a new watch, all in real-time.”
With the coronavirus pandemic having put a stop to much global travel since March 2020, it has fuelled a growing interest in the use of holograms – 3D light projections of a person – as a more life-like, more immersive, more sensory alternative to video calls.
Portals
Los Angeles-based Portl is one of the firms at the forefront of the technology, and Mr Nussbaum says “we can’t make our portals fast enough”.
Its portals are eight feet (2.5m) tall, glass-fronted, computerised boxes.
Inside the booths, a life-size hologram of a person appears.
They also include cameras and microphones so that the user of the hologram can see and hear the people in front of his, or her, projection.
And were it not for the sheet of glass in front of the hologram you’d think the person was actually [standing] there.
Hololens 2
The Portl system is aimed at business customers and is currently also being used by other firms such as Netflix and T-Mobile.
The portals cost from $60,000 (£45,000) each, so they are certainly expensive, although the company says they can be rented for considerably less.
At Microsoft, its hologram communication technology is based around a headset called HoloLens 2.
“It would appear that they are in the same physical space, and they could walk around a virtual table and collaborate on things,” said Greg Sullivan, director of mixed reality at Microsoft.
One of the world’s largest manufacturers of lifts or elevators, it used to have to fly its technicians around the world to make any necessary repairs.
Japan
Meanwhile, Japan Airlines is using the headsets to help train engine mechanics and plane crews.
Next year it is launching a device that you clip to your mobile phone, and it will project into the air a transparent 3D hologram of the person you have having a video call with.
Gordon Wetzstein, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Stanford University, says that holograms are a “more effective way” of communicating than video conferencing.
“If you can create digital or synthetic experiences that get closer and closer to how you perceive reality, you’re more vulnerable to being manipulated,” says Mr Wetzstein.
He also predicts that it will see off video information screens.
“We’ll replace every single digital display kiosk in every mall, in every lobby, in no time.”
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Source: BBC
