Telepresence and Holography / Holograms
Editors viewpoint on their differences, likenesses and future...We all just recently viewed an historic CNN holographic interview on an historic Election Night.ҠCNN stated this type of imaging has never been done before on National TV and I believe that. I havent seen anything like it. The live interview caught me by surprise and sure had the wow factor attached to it didnt it? Heres a link to the actual interview.
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CNN HologramҠVideo.
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The question now has to be asked. Is it Telepresence?
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Im no expert on the subject but Im going to throw my hat into the ring, go out on a limb and say yes, I believe it is. Although I know many video conferencing purists are rolling their eyes and grabbing their guns right about now with my statement.
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While I do know that Telepresence still hasnt been universally defined (Houston, we have a problem), heres how I see it. Broken down to its simplest form - tele (through electronic means) and presence (present). This is how Im justifying my opinion by lumping holography and Telepresence together. Just as Telepresence is surely an offshoot of video conferencing, holographic imaging (like we viewed on CNN) surely has to be considered an offshoot of Telepresence. The interviewer was telepresent from Chicago and beamed into the CNN Election Headquarters. She was most assuredly - telepresent. There was negligible latency, the imaging was fantastic and both interviewers were rehearsed on what they would say. Ive just recently read that CNN actually downgraded the experience to make it movie quality and not as good as it could have been. Maybe they thought us mere mortals would be shocked if they showed their complete hand. I have a feeling it was so big to them, they didnt want it to get upstaged by the historic election. Im willing to bet well see the true power of this technology in the upcoming weeks and months when they can put the pedal to the medal and show it off without having it sidetracked.
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What an amazing time for this technology (all differences and opinions aside). Telepresence Doctors, nurses, teachers, schools and healthcare (healthpresence) will benefit from the recent gains in this state-of-the-art industry whether holograms, Telepresence or holography. Airlines also have to see the threat to a portion of their business travel. Hell, who wants go through security and fly to Miami for a two-hour conference when you can look them in the eye via Telepresence?
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Beam me up Scotty! Simply amazing!
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