Could Holograms be a Green Alternative to Travel?

Posted by lindseyshoe

Here’s an alternative to consider, in response to our recent discussions and articles regarding travel and being environmentally friendly and conscious. CNN aired election night news coverage, containing a hologram as a reporter. Could holograms be the next step in web conferencing, presentations, and travel?

I was first introduced ten years ago to web conferences and presentations. As a program administrator at the University of Dayton, continuing education and career development was essential. But how could I afford to attend all the workshops, presentations, and conferences that I wanted and need to? That’s when I learned of the myriad of web and video conferencing tools available, that could allow me career growth, without the need for travel. Since then, “we’ve come a long way baby,” when it comes to using technology for business and professional growth, as well as personal.
The newest technology available for web and television has a variety of potential uses available. It was first introduced on election night 2008, by CNN Television Networks. Our news reports were delivered via a holographic news anchor, who reported to us “live” via hologram. During CNN’s election night reporting a holographic 3D, 360 degree image of reporter Jessica Yelin in Chicago was “transmitted” to CNN’s election center in New York. During election night coverage, it appeared as if she was a “real” part of the news coverage from New York.
CNN’s virtual correspondent required 35 HD cameras, different shots at different angles, synchronization with the cameras in New York, 20 computers processing the data and 2 camera feeds at CNN headquarters. That’s all. There is more to it than this, but I think you have to have a degree in computer engineering to comprehend it all.
This technology certainly “goes where no man has gone before” and that was what it was designed for. John Chambers (of Cisco Systems) explained during a conference introducing the technology that he wanted something straight out of Star Trek, and Emerging Technology Group and Marthin De Beer made it happen. To further demonstrate the usefulness of hologram technology, Marthin De Beer visited the presentation as a holographic image.
What are some possible uses for virtual presentation or holographic imagery?
- Education: Could professors perform lectures from the comfort of their offices? Or possibly students attend classes from the comfort of their homes?
- Business Travel: Could holograms be the next alternative to business travel, meetings, presentations and conferences? We already have web conferencing tools available, just think how much more effective it could be with face to virtual face contact – and how much more efficient.
- Counseling or Medical Services: Instead of calling your therapist, counselor or other medical professional could you have a virtual consultation? What happens to the office visit co-pay then?
- Recreation: Is this the next step in recreation? Could people actually use this for recreational travel? Or could it be the next new technology for video games, taking the “Wii” system several steps into the future?
- Virtual Shopping: Can holographic imagery give virtual shopping a whole new meaning? Would we move beyond the express lane and self service lanes, to virtual checkouts?
- Virtual Banking: Can I save myself a trip to the bank and complete basic services as well as loan and credit applications as a hologram?
How could holographic technology help the environment?
- Just imagine it, no longer having to drive or air travel to conferences, client meetings, presentations or educational seminars. You simply assemble your team in a conference room and have a hologram presentation. It may not be a money saving idea now, due to the cost of a holographic transmission, but a few years from now it is probably not only going to be more cost effective, but better for the environment with no emissions from air and ground transportation.
- Working from home could take a whole new turn. No longer would businesses, large and small, be tied to a brick and mortar office building. No longer would we have an hour long drive in bumper to bumper traffic releasing carbon monoxide in record numbers during our morning and afternoon commute.
- Educational opportunities would provide for future economic growth, as more people could attend schools, virtually. Homeschooling parents could use holographic teaches to assist them in subjects, special courses and even extracurricular activities.
However there are some drawbacks to using holograms, even though they may be green. What happens to the interaction between people? Will everyone be so wrapped up in their homes or offices interacting virtually that they no longer know how to act in the real world? What about the cost of this technology? How long before it will be feasible to use it to replace business travel efficiently? Lastly, much of what travel does would be eliminated. We would no longer be able to see, smell, experience and meet those of other cultures and countries, but would only know the perception of them as presented by holograms, leaving us with a big virtual black whole of knowledge when it comes to people, places and things.
The hologram technology is exciting, for businesses and personal use. It provides opportunities that before were only dreamed of in Science Fiction movies and television shows. It can also provide us with “green” alternatives to travel and transportation. This technology however may be the one “green” alternative that at one point we may have to stop and say, “All things in moderation.”