A technique that started life as an optical illusion to thrill Victorian Londoners could soon be adding a new dimension to videoconferencing. London-based company has adapted the method that creates life-size hologram-like images for theatrical purposes to the needs of modern businesses.
In the 19th century Henry Dircks, and later John Pepper, developed an optical illusion to convince audiences they were witnessing ghostly activity. A large sheet of glass was positioned at an angle between two rooms; a target room visible to audience members and another out of their line of sight. Shining a light on a character in the hidden room creates a reflection that seems to materialise in the target room, or on the stage, as a ghostly spectre.
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In this form, 鈥溾�� is still used in theme parks today. But incorporating huge sheets of glass into large attractions is problematic, says Ian O鈥機onnell, director of Musion. His company has replaced them with the transparent polyester foils used to package microwave meals.
Foiled again
Using a process called biaxial orientation, the polyester is stretched in both horizontal and vertical directions during manufacture to create an incredibly strong film which is just 0.1 millimetres thick. 鈥淎 large foil could be under 5000 to 7000 kilograms of tension,鈥� says O鈥機onnell. This is necessary to ensure that the surface is perfectly smooth and flat to reflect the image without distorting it.
Musion is building a reputation among performance artists trying to add new elements to their stage shows. Their holographic projection technology has been used by both Madonna and virtual band Gorillaz.
The image itself comes not from hidden actors but from a digital light processing (DLP) projector tucked out of the audience鈥檚 sight. The plastic foil is hung under tension at a 45-degree angle across the front of the stage, reflecting the projector feed onto the stage to give the impression that the actors are performing on the stage (see video).
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a hologram, it鈥檚 a virtual image,鈥� says O鈥機onnell. 鈥淏ut it looks enough like people鈥檚 expectations of a hologram for most people to call it one.鈥� O鈥機onnell says the system could be used to provide more realistic videoconferencing.
Cisco Systems, , used a live link-up between San Jose, California and Bangalore, India, to demonstrate Musion鈥檚 system.
Killer costs
However, hardware prices will have to drop some way for the technology to become a realistic option for many companies. To produce crystal clear life-size images, Musion鈥檚 system incorporates a high-definition camera that costs at least 拢4500 ($7500) and a professional-standard codec 鈥� hardware that compresses the data into a package small enough to be sent via the internet. These come with a hefty price tag of about 拢36,000 ($60,000).
Then there鈥檚 the DLP projector which has to be as bright as possible because only a small fraction of the signal is reflected by the thin foil and out from the stage. Musion typically uses 8000-lumen projectors that also retail for about 拢36,000.
鈥淭hen there鈥檚 the telecom lines,鈥� says O鈥機onnell. All videoconferencing options run on dedicated private lines that can cost up to 拢30,000 ($50,000) per month, he says.
But O鈥機onnell鈥檚 reckons prices will drop. 鈥淭he technology is there but it鈥檚 [lack of]economies of scale that are keeping the component costs high,鈥� he says. Within a few years the cameras and projectors could be one-tenth of their current prices, and software codecs could replace current hardware versions.
O鈥機onnell goes so far as to suggest that Musion-enabled 鈥渆ntertainment suites鈥� could one day replace televisions.
But Chris Chinnock, president of , a consulting firm focused on the display industry, thinks a Musion system in every home is 鈥渂eyond far fetched鈥�, primarily because the projectors are too powerful for small room settings.
