How Close Are We in 2021 to the Hologram Technology in Star Wars

Obi-Wan and Luke in A New Hope — Grainy, blue, 3D recordings are the communication technology of tomorrow. (https://www.starwars.com/news/6-ways-holograms-play-an-important-role-in-star-wars)

Nov 4 2021

I always find it interesting seeing Science Fiction and reality collide. Whenever I watch science fiction movies or read science fiction books, I think about the strange technologies presented in fiction and how they might ever be relevant in our non-fiction reality. For example, the Hologram from Star Wars always felt excessive and pointless. Why can’t a simple phone call suffice? Radios and other transmitters do exist in that universe. Does a 3D, monochromatic blue figure really augment communication? Well, companies in our current reality seek to answer that question with the upcoming ‘metaverse’ virtual space that is right around the corner.

According to StarWars.com, there is a strong use case for the holograms seen throughout the film series: “effective real-time visual communication.” Although from a film standpoint this is mainly for story telling reasons, Microsoft seems to agree with this use case as 3D avatars are coming to Teams in 2022. StarWars.com says of the main villain in Episodes 1-3:

“With the use of holograms, Palpatine was able to simultaneously engage in secret conversations as Darth Sidious and keep up appearances at his day job in the Galactic Senate, all without ever leaving Coruscant.”

This is a live screenshot of the new Microsoft Teams feature in action (satire).

Compare this description to a review of the Microsoft Teams feature: “Microsoft Teams will get new 3D avatars in a push toward a metaverse environment, and you won’t need to put a VR headset on to use them. These avatars can literally represent you both in 2D and 3D meetings, so you can choose to have an animated version of yourself if you’re not feeling like turning your webcam on.” Darth Sidious sounds like a no-webcam guy who would use this Teams feature.

3D Avatars in place of a webcam in Teams.

Another fun use case for Holograms that translates to the business world takes the form of “a way to represent maps and battle plans” as seen in the screenshot below. Personally, this will be my favorite feature in the metaverse- the ability to collaborate and interact with others on a virtual object.

Mark my words, Microsoft Teams will be exactly like this (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

R1706B_SPOT_VOLVO — Hololens used in conjunction with automotive design.

AR, or Augmented Reality, places humanity closer to this effective use of a “Hologram” by overlaying virtual technologies on top of our own reality. One such example is Volvo using the Microsoft Hololens device for automobile design, where the description sounds similar to the Star Wars screenshot above:

“Volvo uses HoloLens in its engineering and design meetings, so imagine a handful of engineers in a conference room each wearing a HoloLens visor, walking around and interacting not just with, for example, a virtual suspension suspended in space, but also with each other, able to talk freely, gesture and (most importantly) not walk into a wall, a table or each other.”

My Analysis

The possible merging of 3D virtual spaces with real-world business needs could just be a flashy technology like the Holograms in Star Wars. However, one should take note of the use case to “represent maps and battle plans.” While this is more accurately going to be presentations and demos in the business world, I believe a virtual space would supersede traditional meetings in this case. Businesses would no longer have to think about physical meeting spaces, their costs, size, and more recently health risks, etc. Instead, a virtual space could accommodate (potentially) infinite participants who all have a front row seat to the meeting. Then they can all do dance emotes and go out for virtual drinks after… but I digress.