Some loved it and some hated it, just like a hot gadget, but let's find out why it was brought to life and exactly how CNN's "hologram" technology works for real.
CNN's "hologram" technology used during the election coverage Tuesday has created quite some buzz on the Web lately, and CNet's Don Reisinger brought up a good point in a commentary today:
"Part of the value of sending reporters to different areas to cover what's going on is to allow viewers to look beyond the onscreen reporter, and see the raucous environment. And it also affords the reporter the opportunity to walk around and show viewers some of the visual highlights at the event."
On the other hand, without getting too technical, Technical Director at Vizrt, Ole Jacobsen, explains why and how the technology was brought to life, in an interview with Dagensmedier:
It all started during a TV fair back in 2002/2003, when CNN's David Bohrman challenged Vizrt to come up with technology that enabled what CNN is now referring to as "hologram" technology. This year we returned with a viable solution, though it was crucial for CNN to not make it look real. As such, we had to add effects to ensure viewers weren't tricked into believing that the studio host was actually talking to someone face to face.
Jessica Yellin reported from Chicago with 44 cameras from all angles. These cameras were controlled by what was happening in CNN's studio in New York, in order to show viewers natural movements in relation to the surrounding studio environment. Only the cameras that showed the right angle of Jessica Yellin in relation to the cameras in the studio were chosen. When the studio cameras zoomed in on the reporter-image in the New York studio, so did the cameras in Chicago accordingly.
CNN refers to "hologram" technology when explaining this, but it's not technically a hologram. Our next challenge is to make a real hologram.
So, what do we think about this technology? Well, we guess it's pretty obvious that such technology has a future, though it might not fit well when using it in conjunction with live reports from the field. After all, it's that whole package of bringing the action into viewers' living room that has made CNN a leading news provider on an international scale. That said, in scenarios where the studio is crucial, like on David Letterman, who knows how many votes John McCain would have avoided loosing if he could have been at "two places at once" (figuratively speaking).
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