Your Holopresence Boss Will See You Now
If you will appear in any hologram-esque presence, there’s only one opening line possible: “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”
So of course I led with that Star Wars quote while testing the “holopresence” lifelike 2D video service provided by ARHT. That Toronto company, founded a decade ago, allows people to appear virtually without the need for a multi-million-dollar camera rig or VR headsets.
"We're trying to humanize telecommunications," CEO Larry O'Reilly said during a recent holopresence demonstration at a Washington, D.C., WeWork space.
Seen from a couch, he appeared to stand between a transparent screen and a dark-blue curtain. He looked a little two-dimensional head-on, even flatter when observed from the side; unlike a dictionary-definition hologram, this allowed no walking around him.
But the effect still had O’Reilly seeming more present than he would have on a monitor’s glass—aside from him being the only person “in” the room not wearing a mask.
O’Reilly said ARHT has found that holopresence can boost a speaker’s effectiveness, citing a financial services firm’s audience surveys: “They scored better for engagement, for entertainment value, and most importantly for retaining the content.”
The novelty factor helps, he observed: “Everyone has their phone up.”
ARHT’s technology doesn’t require anything too special at the studio end. “In general, we can use a good quality 'prosumer' 4K camera like a Panasonic or Sony, or similar,” said John Dierkes, an ARHT business development consultant. “We shoot in 4K and then project in HD.”
Its projection setup is a little more complicated: A laser projector with an ultra-short-throw lens and from 5,000 to 15,000 lumens of brightness, depending on the setting
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