Holographic telepresence, a video-call in 3D
Not long ago, a simple video-call might seem a science fiction idea, yet it seems that this technology will not be long, will give way to the holographic telepresence.
For the first time we are witnessing the putting on the market of a system that would allow two geographically distant people to meet and interact as if they were actually facing each other.
The project, developed in collaboration between researchers from the National Institute of optics of the CNR and the company Quintetto, has been realized thanks to the contribution of the Region of Valle d’Aosta .
“The focal element is represented by a two-dimensional part of a three-dimensional environment designed specifically to generate a three-dimensional feeling. The person then has the perception of being actually sitting in front of a real partner and not a representation” says Luca Mercatelli, Ino -CNR researcher. An important part of the project, in fact, concerned over the sound system, just the study of the photometric and color characteristics of the environment by making use of skills in lighting and vision science.
“The scenarios opened by this new technology affect the various fields in which it is useful or necessary to have an experience as possible real” says Paolo De Natale, director of the Institute . “Consider, for example, services to citizens, to the difficulty of the elderly to interact with impersonal screens, touch mode and ‘mechanical’ directions . But also for businesses, applications from banking to commercial or tourism, medical or public administration”.
For some time the system was present in the world of theatrical events, but the costs do not allow the spread. This new project aims, however, to bring to market this system at an affordable cost.
“A distance interaction between two subjects -concludes De Natale- very realistic; all in ‘live’ in a natural environment, with high levels of interaction and taking advantage of the normal transmission capacity offered by operators of Internet market. “