Life-size holograms – from science-fiction to reality

Home Life-size holograms – from science-fiction to reality

“Face-to-face interaction transfers an immense amount of non-verbal information. This information is lost in online tools, promoting poor online behaviours. Users miss the proxemics, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact that bring nuance, emotional connotation and ultimately empathy to a conversation. TeleHuman 2 injects these missing elements into long-distance conversations with a realism that cannot be achieved with a Skype or Facetime video chat.”

Roel Vertegaal, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction, Queen’s University School of Computing

Life-size holograms – from science-fiction to reality

It’s straight out of Star Trek and is set to radically change how meetings look and function. Roel Vertegaal, Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the Queen’s University School of Computing, has developed TeleHuman 2 – the world’s first truly holographic videoconferencing system. The technology developed by Dr. Vertegaal and his team allows live, 3D images of a human to be “teleported” live into a different room, where multiple people can see it, hear it, and walk around it.

Dr. Vertegaal says the technology could make a big impact in the workplace and beyond: “Imagine a performer capable of appearing simultaneously, and in true 3D, on TeleHuman 2 devices throughout the venue – bringing a whole new level of audience intimacy to a performance. The TeleHuman technology could even mitigate environmental impacts of business travel – enabling organizations to conduct more engaging and effective meetings from a distance, rather than having to appear in person.”