Technology uses Microsoft’s HoloLens
By Sreekanth A. Nair
Microsoft is all set to take communication technology to the next level with its holoportation. Using the technology developed by Microsoft, it is possible to position one or more remote people in the same place as real-time 3D hologram.
The technology enables two or more people sitting in different locations to have a live face-to-face conversation without actually meeting each other. The entire conversation can also be recorded and played back in a small area.
HoloLens, a device Microsoft introduced last June, enables a person to have the virtual reality experience. It costs around $3000.
The technology uses multiple 3D cameras to capture a subject from all angles and creates a temporally consistent model by combining all the visuals using special software made for the purpose.
This data is compressed and sent to other people in remote locations and they can view each other if they are wearing a HoloLens. If they don’t wear one, they can hear the audio.
The technology, however, is in the research stage. Recently, Microsoft released a YouTube video showing holoportation experiment featuring chief of the research group Shahram Izadi.
“When combined with mixed reality displays such as HoloLens, this technology allows users to see, hear and interact with remote participants in 3D as if they are actually present in the same physical space. Communicating and interacting with remote users becomes as natural as face-to-face communication,” Microsoft Research said.