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WHAT began as an optical illusion to thrill Victorians could one day be at the forefront of videoconferencing. London-based firm says its life-size 鈥渉olograms鈥� could bring together people on opposite sides of the world in a way that no competing technology can.
In the 19th century, Henry Dircks and John Pepper developed a ghostly illusion. A viewer peers into a room; a near-identical version of this main room lies outside their line of sight and a large sheet of glass is secretly angled between the two. When light falls on characters in the hidden room, they are reflected onto the glass and appear to the viewer as ghostly spectres in the main room.
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Musion has replaced the unwieldy sheets of glass with a 100-micrometre-thick transparent polyester foil, and switched the live actors for a digital light-processing (PLD) projector. The action is filmed at a remote location and transmitted using the internet to a videoconferencing suite. The projector and foil are then used to project the life-sized image into the room.
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a hologram, it鈥檚 a virtual image,鈥� says Ian O鈥機onnell, director of Musion. 鈥淏ut it looks like people鈥檚 expectations of a hologram.鈥�
鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a hologram 鈥� it鈥檚 a virtual image 鈥� but it looks like people鈥檚 expectations of a hologram鈥�
Unfortunately, the cost of the equipment required to produce the effect will probably keep the technology from the consumer market for several years.
