Holovision
Holovision is the high-tech, 3D reply to the universal wish that aims at bringing the world’s favorite entertainment shows to life. In Death of Sleep (1992), A. Maccaffrey and J. L. Nye aptly wrote, “Flat screen pictures don’t have enough life in them… I prefer holovision every time.”
Holovision technology has amazing utility for both entertainment lovers and consumers in general. Consumers are currently being mesmerized by advertisers - especially in Europe and the U.S. - by means of high-resolution 3D images of products floating around in space. In fact, Europe has installed holovision in a variety of places to attract business, including interactive points of sale, retail narrow casting networks, electronic transaction terminals, virtual store kiosks, and trade shows. Now, at modern theatres you can even watch a play with a live actor performing amidst images that are seemingly suspended in the air. With all the hype, there is also talk of holovision being used in reading books. In Poet in Hologram in Middle of Prime Time, E. Bryant writes in reference to this phenomena, “The title page lands face up: ‘Darkness comes cheap: an original play for holovision!’”
As mentioned before, Holovision – also known as a Three-Dimensional Aerial Imaging System - is a ground-breaking interactive communication system enabling viewers to see three-dimensional images floating in space. Viewers do not require 3D glasses or other visual accessories to enjoy holovision. In terms of holovision advertising, and to explain it scientifically, holovision makes use of a holograph in a standard digital image video with Windows-based content; it then projects the 3D images that float in space. This system controls electronic mechanisms through holograms, which are used instead of keypads, touch screens and buttons, while the audience cannot view the projection technology hidden in the presentation stage. The picture screen used by advertisers can be installed at varying distances of up to eighteen meters, making holovision technology perfect for outdoor media.
Today’s product manufacturers are therefore looking at holovision technology as a tool to boost sales, improve product branding, and enhance the branding experience as a whole by offering more products and services. Mr. Parin Chanun Tranont, the chief executive officer of Absolute Impact, a new Thai company setting up attractive holovision presentation packages in the Asian market, says that the images floating in space “almost always catch consumers’ attention.”
Looking back to where it all began, it was the aerospace industry that first provided impetus for the birth of holovision. The development of optical and electronic break-through technology and its associated applications, plus long years invested in research to advance holovision to its present commercial application, have conjointly brought to the surface what marketers refer to as the “wow” factor behind holovision. Apart from the uses of holovision detailed above, you can now view a three-dimensional trailer for a film while in line at a theatre, or a promotion for a new release at a movie rental store. Holovision can also be employed in high traffic venues as an information system display. Shopping malls, sports complexes, mass transit centers such as train stations and airports, office buildings, hotel lobbies, convention centers, and banking ATM’s may all make use of this remarkable new technology. Remember that holovision is interactive and thus highly convenient to use in place of regular communication systems.
Holovision is also an ideal medium for in-store retail merchandizing. Retailers can now train their sales staff by conveying product information through holovision during store closure. Another innovative use of holovision is at museums, where curators can exhibit priceless objects in a secured environment allowing patrons to interact with the objects more closely. Holovision content can even be displayed with music or sound effects to provide a compelling multi-sensory experience. The projection of realistic 3D images to a number of simultaneous viewers in a wide field of view, meeting their expectations with regard to brightness, color, contrast and size, does indeed satisfy end-user requirements.
It’s safe to say that the world is technologically advancing into a new era, and holovision is most definitely something that’s about to blow up, pronto!