Now You Can Be In Two Places At Once

摘要

In the original Star Wars, R2D2 projects a holographic video of Princess Leia's plea for help. That was in 1977. But today, three-dimensional projection has moved beyond George Lucas' imagination. Last month, a UK-based video company, Musion, successfully transmitted a holographic projection from an office in London to Berlin. Unlike Star Wars, however, Musion transmitted a life-sized, interactive holographic image of Musion director Ian O'Connell based on an optical illusion used to stun theatre-goers in the 19th century. The illusion, known as Pepper's Ghost, gave audiences the perception of live actors or objects materialising into a scene on stage. The Victorian theatre used a pane of glass at an angle to the stage to throw a three-dimensional reflection of the actor onto the stage. The effect is the same as when a car driver sees a reflection of the dashboard in the side window.