The iconic Princess Leia hologram scene from the original Star Wars movie of 1978 helped a lot to stimulate our technical desire for this futuristic form of communication. In 2012, in the real world, Tupac Shakur’s groundbreaking telepresence resurrection at the Coachella Music Festival captivated the audience and attracted a lot of attention. However, planning these events can take months and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Recently, with the rise of video grammetry (creating 3D models using videos taken from different angles), Microsoft has made Microsoft Mesh virtual collaboration technology available in limited preview. However, each of these systems requires virtual reality glasses and smart glasses, which is limiting their appeal.
Now, sans the glasses, two venture-backed companies are captivating viewers with seemingly similar technologies. ARHT Media, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with startup PORTL Inc. in Los Angeles, has begun shipping a portable plug-and-play cabinet-based holoportal system that is the same size as a telephone booth. In both cases, the presenter, who is a studio person, is displayed in realistic 3D format of full size and can interact with people around the world where one or more booths are connected to the company’s network via the Internet.
This month, when Los Angeles PORTL technology investor Marina Haba aired with her son at the PORTL booth in an apartment in Tokyo, she was able to see a live demonstration of PORTL technology. She and the others who attended the presentation seemed very real. It was as if Haba was standing in booth while they were chatting. However, the sound was quiet for the viewer, and latency occasionally sometimes hindered smooth communication. But in general, the presentation was surprisingly effective.
PORTL founder and CEO David Nussbaum said latency is currently sub-1 second and the goal is to reduce it to less than 100 milliseconds.
The PORTL Epic cabinet weighs approximately 180 kg, is 2.1 m high, 1.5 m wide and 0.6 m deep. All you need to log in to the PORTL cloud-based network which uses Amazon Web Services and standard electric outlet and internet connection are all that are needed for plug and play.
A two-way audio speaker and microphone system are built into the booth’s bezels on either of sides, and two cameras are built into the top. The Intel RealSense camera captures the person directly in front of the cabinet, so the presenter can see it in the studio. The Logitech Brio 4K camera provides a detailed view of the surroundings.
On the presenter side, you need a simple studio equipped with tripod mounted softbox to provide LED lighting, a return-feed monitor that shows who is interacting with the presenter, and a 4K camera on a tripod and either a boom or lavalier mic. The feed to get online is Wi-Fi, 5G, or Ethernet. To transfer to the presenter, you also need a stage consisting of a seamless white horizont paper to create a white background and an acrylic board placed on top of the paper to allow the presenter to stand and move.
According to Nussbaum, PORTL can be used to host events such as virtual fashion shows, art shows, museums and to promote products. Instructors can learn skills as if they were in love before students, and engineers can demonstrate prototypes by beaming to colleagues who have access to network cabinets.
So how does this volume display work? The company has a card near the vest, which is what we know. First, the PORTL cabinet is brightly and evenly illuminated with LEDs integrated above, below and from the sides, and is designed to capture and display shadows (from the wall) and reflections (from the floor). In addition, the company uses a custom open-cell LCD touch panel manufactured to PORTL specifications. The panel is placed about 12 cm from the bezel, creating a window effect. The depth inside the cabin is 43 cm. It is this combination of shadows, reflections, and carefully placed panels that gives the displayed content the appearance of volume depth.
This happens to see two eyes in a slightly different image called the binocular inequality, which the brain uses to reconstruct a 2D scene into a 3D depth scene. Similarly, PORTL uses the shadows, reflections, and depth behind the LCD panel to create volume effects.
AHRT’s HoloPod case is also equipped with a camera and two-way communication. Technically, the video stream is projected onto a woven mesh painted with its own reflective paint, and the image is reflected back to the viewer. By carefully adjusting the lighting on both sides of the speaker, the viewer’s eyes combine information and the brain produces a volumetric effect.
ARHT has established studios in China, London, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles, and has established connections with partners in other countries. It also provides an additional larger HoloPresence screen suitable for occasions that are more important than the boxing effect provided by the cabinet.
However, Nussbaum believes that PORTL technology is relatively simple and will be easy to shrink. “By the end of the year, or arguably by the first quarter of next year, we want to have a mini version ready for business. And in the second or third phase, we will introduce consumer devices for tables. “
Price is an obstacle to prompt acceptance. PORTL starts at $ 60,000, but rentals are also available at a “much lower cost”. ARHT only lists subscription prices starting at $ 15,000 and rising to $ 40,000 per year, depending on the number of transmissions. More attractive is the next mini PORTL. “We expect the price to drop below $ 2,000,” says Nussbaum.
