This machine can produce life-sized holograms for your virtual meetings
In this pandemic-hit world, video conferences have become the go-to way of communication. They let us sit safely in our homes and connect with our peers for work, classes, and everything in between. Now, to make these interactions a bit more interesting and realistic, a US-based company has created a machine that beams life-sized holograms of people in real time. Here's all about it.
PORTL and its phone booth-like machine
Developed by Los Angeles-based PORTL Inc., the machine in question stands nearly 7 feet tall, like a phone booth, and produces a full-scale hologram of another person to let you "talk" with them. It beams the complete avatar of the person, in what has been touted, as "holoportation" and enables real-time interaction - as if the person is standing right in front of you.
We can connect people from opposite coasts, says PORTL's CEO
"We say if you can't be there, you can beam there," says PORTL CEO David Nussbaum. "We are able to connect military families that haven't seen each other in months, people from opposite coasts."
How the machine works?
The machine, as Nussbaum explains, uses a combination of studio-quality image generator, speakers, cameras, mics, and an interior lightbox with 18,000 lumens of even light distribution (among other things) to produce the live holograms. The output comes out in 4k resolution, with the person being beamed having the ability to see, hear, and fully interact with their audience.
Plus, it can also produce recorded holograms
Along with producing live-beamed holograms, which can be sent by anyone with a camera and white background, the machine also generates pre-recorded holographic content. To do this, however, you will have to equip the machine with an AI-powered technology from StoryFile which produces a hologram recording and can archive it on the PORTL machine.
How much this whole thing costs?
The PORTL machine alone costs $60,000 and if you choose to include the AI-based recording technology, the price goes up to $85,000. Nussbaum presumes that the cost will come down over the next 3-5 years, as the system becomes more advanced and draws more takers for applications ranging from education and advertising to virtual museum and digital resurrection tours.
