Holograms Are Real, and They're Ready to Talk to You

Speaker 1: So I'm like touching his nose. Oh, okay. So every time I put my hand in, there's like a gust of air. It's like he's breathing on me. I mean, that's a pretty fun parlor trick, but it makes it feel like you're putting your hand inside someone's face. Speaker 1: We've come down to Silicon Valley today to check in with a company called Light Field Lab. Now, I was here just over a year ago to see their amazing hologram technology, but they've let us know that they [00:00:30] have an update, and today I'm gonna be able to actually interact with a hologram. Now I have no idea what I'm expecting in that room, but I am gonna get a demo. Remember, this is a two-dimensional screen that you are watching on, but I'm gonna give you my full reaction and show you what I see. Let's check it out. Speaker 1: Light Field Lab is the company behind a new hologram technology called Solid Light. The company is backed by the likes of Samsung, LG, and Verizon, and says that one day [00:01:00] this tech could be used to create huge interactive entertainment experiences that leave traditional 2D screens in the dust light field Labs holograms don't rely on illusions like spinning volumetric displays or reflections projected on angled glass, an old magic trick known as Pepper's Ghost. Instead, a light source sends light through a multi-layered piece of polymer known as a phase guide that steers and focuses the light into mid-air, creating what's known as converging wavefronts of light. [00:01:30] Essentially, it's creating a hologram in the space in front of you. The result is what Light Field Lab calls a solid light object that has billions of pixels of resolution and that moves refracts and reflects in physical space. The company says this is the highest resolution holographic display platform ever designed. We first saw this technology back in 2021, a hologram of a chameleon that I could walk around and see from three dimensions and even magnify like [00:02:00] a real object. Now, light Field Lab is going one step further with an interactive hologram experience called Defy. I'm looking at what feels like a person staring back at me and I'm gonna be able to interact with it. So I'm told that the secret phrase that I say is Awake. Awake. Speaker 2: Wow, Speaker 3: I am [00:02:30] easier creator of Lake. Speaker 1: It's kind of creepy to have this hologram talking to you and responding to you in real time. And it's like blinking its eyes at me. Initially I thought I might be hearing audio from a particularly clever, smart speaker or chatbot, so I decided to put that interactivity to the test. Wow. Okay. So the space is responding and as I move around the room, [00:03:00] he's kind of looking at me. One of the tests I can do is holding up fingers and seeing whether he can gets how many fingers I'm holding up or see how many fingers I'm holding up. Speaker 3: One. Speaker 1: One, okay. Speaker 3: Quite thrill. Ooh, Speaker 1: Multiple languages. I like that. Object Recognition is one thing, but what about a conversation? Not really sure what to talk about with a hologram. Do you have any suggestions? Speaker 3: [00:03:30] I would like to understand more about where you're from. Speaker 1: Oh, okay. Did you notice that I have a bit of an accent? Speaker 3: I did. Is that Chicago Speaker 1: <laugh> Chicago? No, but I'm actually from Australia. Do you know anything about Australia? Speaker 3: Beautiful country. Speaker 1: Okay, so how do I know there isn't just someone behind this wall holding a microphone with some like voice distorter? Speaker 3: Where is not <laugh>? Speaker 1: I mean, so I'm taking your word for it. Speaker 3: [00:04:00] I thought we were friends. Speaker 1: Fair cop. I was convinced this was a smart hologram. But then Light Field Lab, let me in on the Secret. I wasn't talking to a chatbot, I was talking to a real person. I'm Speaker 3: Actually being facial captured from another location and transported to you using Light Field Labs, new Defi system Speaker 1: Down the hallway. One of the light field team was being recorded in real time and turned [00:04:30] into a hologram. His expressions were captured using motion capture, and that information was translated through Light Field's proprietary Wave tracer software. That information was then transmitted over a standard internet connection into the demo room where I was standing and projected from a solid light panel into a hologram. This hologram was small, about 10 inches across, created by a 28 inch panel. But light field blab says the panels are modular, meaning that one day it could put as many as 98 [00:05:00] panels together to create a modular holographic video wall. 312 inches on the diagonal generating 10 billion pixels per square meter. There's no word yet on when you'll be able to see this tech out in the real world. And Light Field Lab is still keeping its launch partners under wraps. Speaker 1: But think places like theme parks, entertainment venues, maybe even retail stores. One day the company says this kind of technology could be used anywhere. People want a next level interactive entertainment [00:05:30] experience that goes way beyond a 2D screen. When I came in today, I wasn't sure what to expect. A, a basic hologram, if you can even say that, or a pre-canned demonstration. But what I got was incredibly cool. This is a real person being captured in light and projected into this space as a hologram. A hologram that I can reach out and touch. And I gotta say, that's pretty impressive, isn't it? Speaker 3: For sure. For more futuristic technology, make sure to like and [00:06:00] subscribe to cnet. Speaker 1: Great job.