Post by albquietman on Nov 4, 2008 23:00:26 GMT -5
CNN goes crazy for election holograms
Forget who's actually going to win the US election, the real question is which of the news channels has the most hi-tech coverage. Flashy graphics, high definition, virtual reality: this is the battleground that modern politics is fought on (for blow by blow details you can follow Anna Pickard's metacoverage on Comment is Free America).
Each of the major US networks is showing off all the bells, whistles, gizmos and gadgets they can lay their hands on. You want enormous touch screens? We got them. You want a virtual representation of Congress? In spades.
You want holograms?
Seriously - CNN's big show features a holographic reporter, beamed in live from somewhere else. Wolf Blitzer, the network's grizzled veteran anchor with a voice that would make asking for a cup of tea sound urgent, was full of promise when introducing it: "You haven't seen anything like this before," he said. Suddenly - with a whizz and a crackle - the reporter appeared.
Some clever people have already filmed it and stuck it on YouTube - here's one high quality version, or you can look here for another one with more context:
www.youtube.co/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg
Strains, of course, of Star Wars - the lucky reporter Jessica Yellin even mentioned Princess Leia, as she explained (in jerky, bandwidth-restricted fashion) how it all worked. Indeed, the fact that they were doing this seemed far more important to CNN than what Yellin actually had to say about the election.
They stressed how the system consisted of 35 HD cameras strung together in a ring around the subject, beaming the image in 3D back to New York. What still wasn't apparent, though, was whether the hologram was actually appearing in the CNN studio or was merely being overlayed on the picture for viewers at home.
Personally? Meh. It doesn't achieve anything that a straightforward camera. Give me something meaty: data visualisation, representations of what's going on. Still, kudos for trying... over on Fox News they're reduced to handing out cookies "in the form of a hi-def, widescreen Fox TV".
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/nov/05/uselections2008
Forget who's actually going to win the US election, the real question is which of the news channels has the most hi-tech coverage. Flashy graphics, high definition, virtual reality: this is the battleground that modern politics is fought on (for blow by blow details you can follow Anna Pickard's metacoverage on Comment is Free America).
Each of the major US networks is showing off all the bells, whistles, gizmos and gadgets they can lay their hands on. You want enormous touch screens? We got them. You want a virtual representation of Congress? In spades.
You want holograms?
Seriously - CNN's big show features a holographic reporter, beamed in live from somewhere else. Wolf Blitzer, the network's grizzled veteran anchor with a voice that would make asking for a cup of tea sound urgent, was full of promise when introducing it: "You haven't seen anything like this before," he said. Suddenly - with a whizz and a crackle - the reporter appeared.
Some clever people have already filmed it and stuck it on YouTube - here's one high quality version, or you can look here for another one with more context:
www.youtube.co/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg
Strains, of course, of Star Wars - the lucky reporter Jessica Yellin even mentioned Princess Leia, as she explained (in jerky, bandwidth-restricted fashion) how it all worked. Indeed, the fact that they were doing this seemed far more important to CNN than what Yellin actually had to say about the election.
They stressed how the system consisted of 35 HD cameras strung together in a ring around the subject, beaming the image in 3D back to New York. What still wasn't apparent, though, was whether the hologram was actually appearing in the CNN studio or was merely being overlayed on the picture for viewers at home.
Personally? Meh. It doesn't achieve anything that a straightforward camera. Give me something meaty: data visualisation, representations of what's going on. Still, kudos for trying... over on Fox News they're reduced to handing out cookies "in the form of a hi-def, widescreen Fox TV".
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2008/nov/05/uselections2008