Holy Hologram!

First things first, GOBAMA ’08! I’m ecstatic with the results of Tuesday’s election, change has come and we are now moving forward. And when I say this, I’m not only talking about the president-elect; technology is still advancing and becoming quite flashy. During CNN’s news coverage on Election night, they used holography to conduct an interview between Jessica Yellin and Wolf Blitzer.

I am not too sure whether or not people enjoyed the new technology but regardless, I decided to read an article about why they used it and how it worked. The hologram was beamed on live TV when Jessica Yellin, who was stationed at the Obama Headquarters in Chicago, was in correspondence with Wolf Blitzer, who was in CNN’s studio. CNN was able to do this by setting up 35 high definition cameras in a ring while Yellin stood inside of this ring. The cameras picked up her every move and transmitted the image in 3-D to the studio, which is in New York.

Technically, while CNN has been calling this newly used technology holography, it is not. Holography, according to the article is, “a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that it appears as if the object is in the same position relative to the recording medium as it was when recorded. The image changes as the position and orientation of the viewing system changes in exactly the same way as if the object was still present, thus making the recorded image or hologram appear three-dimensional.” What CNN actually did was merely create Yellin’s image with overlay images and a green screen!

Though the technology was cool, I wonder if it was really necessary. Did they REALLY have to beam her in?! Blitzer said it made the interview more intimate but along with what the article said, the main point of corresponding with reporters in different areas is to catch the true essence of what is going on in different locations. With Yellin being “in” CNN’s studio, what was really happening at the Obama Headquarters? We may never know… :~)