Futuristic 'hologram' tech promises ultra-realistic human telepresence
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TeleHuman 2 allows people in different locations to appear before one another lifesize and in 3D.Human Media Lab/Queen's University
May 4, 2018, 4:46 PM EDT / Updated May 4, 2018, 4:46 PM EDT<br>By Tom Metcalfe
Scientists are one step closer to turning science fiction into reality. A new 3-D display system developed by researchers in Canada, is able to transmit a full-size, 360-degree image of a human that can be seen without any special gadgets like headsets or fast-moving mirrors.<br>The futuristic technology could usher in a new era of ultra-realistic "telepresence," ranging from remote participation in meetings and conferences to virtual on-stage appearances at concerts.
The projected 3-D image looks real from any angle, and to multiple viewers from different angles, said Roel Vertegaal, a professor of human-computer interaction at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, and lead researcher of a new study about the technology. If you walk around to the side or back of the cylindrical screen, he added, you’ll see a side view or back view of the person “inside” it.<br>“It is quite beautiful,” Vertegaal said. “The screen is not perfect, but the human appears to be standing in the cylinder”<br>Vertegaal explained that the display system, dubbed “TeleHuman 2,” uses three stereoscopic cameras — which record information about the physical shape of a subject, as well as what it looks like — to take live video of the front, back and sides of a human subject. The information about the image and its 3-D shape, known as a “lightfield,” is then transmitted as data over a network or Internet connection to the 6-foot-high cylindrical screen, or “telepod,” where the virtual human is displayed.<br>A long time coming<br>Researchers have been trying for decades to create the sort of 3-D holographic images seen in many sci-fi movies, such as when Princess Leia makes a holographic plea for help to Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original "Star Wars" film, or the fictional "Holodeck" used to create virtual environments on the "Star Trek" TV series. But 3-D projections have been difficult to create in real life because they typically need to be projected onto a surface and can’t just be seen in thin air.
Holograms make regular appearances in the “Star Wars” franchise. Here, Yoda appears as a hologram in the film, "Revenge of the Sith."20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Recently, scientists tried to trap tiny particles with lasers to create 3-D images that appear to float in thin air, with some limited success. Other approaches create this effect using light bouncing off a rapidly rotating mirror. The mirror spins so fast that it appears invisible, while the light reflected from its moving surface results in a 3-D shape.
Some virtual reality systems can also create a 3-D presence, but viewers have to wear VR headsets to see it.
And the so-called “holograms” seen at some stadium shows, like dead rapper Tupac Shakur’s 2012 “appearance” at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, used a variation of a two-dimensional illusion projected onto a transparent screen, known as “Pepper’s Ghost,” after the 19th-century scientist who invented it.<br>Snoop Dogg, left, performs with a hologram of deceased rapper Tupac Shakur at the 2012 Coachella music festival.Christopher Polk / Getty Images for CoachellaThe new TeleHuman 2 system uses a special reflective screen and an exterior hoop of more than 40 projectors to achieve a 3-D effect from any angle.<br>Practical applications<br>Vertegaal thinks the new display system will initially be used for teleconferencing. Thanks to its relatively low Internet bandwidth and computer processing requirements, a conversation between two 3-D “telehumans” would need just six times the bandwidth of a modern 2-D video call, he said.<br>Conference venues and corporate meeting rooms are places that could be equipped with cylindrical “telepods” for displaying a remote human presence, he added.
The tech could also be used for entertainment purposes, such as at stadium music shows, where remote singers — or even dead stars, like Tupac — can make virtual appearances on stage.<br>“We expect this to be a practical solution, but our research is always some years ahead of the marketplace,” Vertegaal said. “That's the whole point of research.”<br>Vertegaal and his team aren’t alone in the race to create 3-D virtual humans.<br>Related<br>mach<br>machHow scientists are turning 'Star Wars' holograms into reality
At the University of Southern California, researchers have been working to create 3-D human images with a variety of systems for more than a decade. In 2009, scientists at the school’s Institute of Creative Technologies demonstrated a 3-D teleconferencing display that uses a fast-spinning mirror as a projection surface.<br>Paul Debevec, a research professor with the USC group,...