Telstra: may the holographic force be with you!

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 27 May 2008 15:31

Opinion and Analysis

In a scene reminiscent of a Star Wars Jedi Council meeting, Australia's dominant carrier Telstra has projected a life-size 3-D hologram of its chief technology officer to give a business presentation in real time hundreds of kilometres away. The presentation held in Adelaide saw a not perfect but passable 3-D colour image of Dr Hugh Bradlow on stage which was beamed from Melbourne, more than 700 km distant.

In order to accomplish the feat, Telstra used a high definition video camera to film Dr Bradlow in Melbourne and then beamed the image to Adelaide using a dedicated ultra high bandwidth broadband connection. Dr Bradlow was viewing the presentation using a large screen in Melbourne, allowing him to interact with the Adelaide audience as though he was physically there in person.

With the advent of increasingly higher bandwidth connections, video conferencing has taken large steps forward in recent years. Sophisticated systems, such as HP Halo, take great pains to create an illusion, using multiple cameras, props and high bandwidth communications, to make it appear that all parties are sitting in the same room around a conference table. Despite this, the illusion is far from perfect.

However, the use of holographic images, as displayed by Telstra goes a step further. It demonstrates the feasibility of putting lifelike holographic images of a people in actual chairs at an actual conference table and simultaneously putting holographic images in chairs at a similar conference table at other locations. For all intents and purposes, the same meeting could be held at multiple locations, with each person interacting with 3-D holographic likenesses of the other persons at the meeting as though they were real. CONTINUED