SEATTLE — Andrew Dorcas is engaged in a friendly face-to-face chat in Seattle.
“And speaking to you in real-time,” he adds.
But Dorcas is actually standing more than 2,000 miles away, in Toronto.
“Being in multiple places at the exact same time, that’s what we do,” Dorcas says.
Dorcas is a senior vice president at ARHT Media, and the full-sized human we appear to be speaking with is actually his live hologram. For the past decade, the company has been beaming influential people around the globe with its HoloPresense technology.
“Retail, healthcare, military and defense are some of the largest industries that we’ve got,” said Dorcas, “As a hologram, I can be in multiple locations simultaneously.”
So how does it work? The subject’s image is captured in a studio against a green backdrop, and transmitted live to anywhere in the world. It’s a two-way conversation.
“I’m looking down a lens of a camera,” Dorcas said, “I’m able to see you and interact with you live.”
The holographic image is electronically isolated from the green backdrop, transmitted live, and beamed onto a semi-transparent foreground material at a distant location.
“It’s, for the most part, invisible to the naked eye,” Dorcas said.
A few feet behind the holographic projection, a carefully lighted backdrop assembled on-location enhances the 3-D effect. With this technology, a bridesmaid stranded in London was able to attend her friend’s stateside wedding during the height of Covid, and pro basketball players were able to conduct “in-person” interviews from behind the NBA's pandemic bubble.
Holographic presentations can also be souped-up with graphics that seem to float in mid-air or be prerecorded to be used again and again.
The company’s latest innovation is called Capsule. It looks a bit like a phone booth with a live person, object, or 3D graphics placed inside. The 4K LCD images will make you believe you’re seeing the real thing right in front of you.
That’s how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was able to attend multiple tech conferences in Europe without leaving his undisclosed location.
“He was able to do that without putting any risk to himself or his leaders,” said Dorcas.
Thanks to ARHT Media’s holographic technology, you can travel, carbon-free, to a conference halfway around the world and still be home in time for dinner. “Being there” without having to go there can save time, money, and, maybe someday, the planet.
Dorcas said, “It just really enhances the opportunity to do more business at a lower cost, and at a lower time and environmental cost, as well.”
ARHT Media’s HoloPresense technology is currently available at studios located in 30 WeWork locations around the world.
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