Did you happen to catch CNN last night and see their new holographic technology? If not, feel free to click on the video to see it in action. Here is what they did - they used 35 HD cameras to simulate a holographic experience - similar to Star Wars. They didn't actually show the 3D image in the studio with Wolf Blitzer but it looked that way to those of us viewing at home.
See holographic image materialize
See holographic image materialize
See holographic image materialized
Is there demand for this technology? Yes, absolutes. I saw 3D telepresence at ITEXPO this past September in LA and the attendees were blown away. So was I. I think holopresence has legs.
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Rich,
In point of fact, the technology involved is not holographic at all. It's a spin on the feature set found in a virtual set system. It's not unlike the replay system that CBS deployed at the Superbowl in Miami a couple of years ago.
They use an array of cameras to capture a scene from all perspectives, then switch between camera angles dynamically based upon the position of the camera in the live studio. It's a form of motion tracking.
Real 3D TV is in the works, I was hearing about it at the NAB convention this past April. In real 3D the entire scene is captured such that the end user can view it from various angles at will.
This leads to a logical extension into the voice space. We need 3D localization of sound sources and the ability to track that to the camera movement. This is way beyond surround sound, which is a planar scheme. Its better addressed using the ages old Ambisonic approach to sound.
There's a good mailing list on this at sursound@music.vt.edu
Michael
Here's what Broadcast Engineering magazine had to say about it.
http://broadcastengineering.com/newsrooms/cnn-hologram-breaks-ground20081107/
Thanks for the great comments Michael -- I will check out the article and join the list.. Rich