
Yes, this is an odd one. I'm no fan of rap. I'm no fan of Tupac, dead or alive. And I certainly don't approve of his lyrics. However, his recent post-mortem appearance (lyric/language content warning) rapping two songs - including one with Snoop Dogg - at the Coachella music festival in California a few days ago was nothing short of amazing. First described as a hologram costing millions of dollars it turns out it was actually a $400,000 CGI (computer-generated imagery). Still, it was cool, and it got me thinking.
Actually, I've had ideas in my head for a long time as to where holographic images will be taking us in the future. For sports fans like me, I believe that we're not far from taking sports to the 3D level in our homes...actually playing in our homes. In the near future, I believe we'll have projected 3D NFL football games, MLB baseball games, and NBA basketball games playing before our very eyes on tabletops, large game room floors, etc....all scaled to fit the locale with amazing clarity. Watching LeBron James dunk right in front of you in your own home in 3D is closer than you think.
That said, this concept can be used to make business drastically greener. And as a project manager who has routinely traveled with large teams to customer sites for expensive status meetings, I can tell you that the use of this technology - in 'live' mode, not dead Tupac mode - can mean no one has to travel anywhere. A room set up at each site with the right technology will mean status meeting participants can interact personally with each other - actually with their counterparts hologram or image - without ever getting on a plane. The startup costs will be a little steep I'm sure, but once in place the savings will be enormous and the reduction in an organization's carbon footprint will be huge. Think about it....