Blurred faces, breaking voices and many ‘can you hear me nows’ – yes, that pretty much sums up the never-ending video calls that have become a part of work-life since the lockdown started. Maybe we find it monotonous because it seems so impersonal.
Well, the latest entrant in the virtual communication segment is sure to solve this issue and blow your minds with endless possibilities.
A Los Angeles based company, PORTL Inc is here with its product that takes remote communication to the next level. The phone booth-sized machines will beam live holograms of the person you are conversing with into your living room. Get ready to talk in real-time with a life-sized hologram of another person.
What’s more, is that the device can even be installed with technology to enable communication with recorded holograms of historical figures or relatives who have passed away.
‘Holoportation’, as it is called by the Chief Executive David Nussbaum, is relatively easy and will be possible for anyone with a camera and a white background.
“We say if you can’t be there, you can beam there,” said Nussbaum, who is a leading expert in the hologram industry.
“We are able to connect military families that haven’t seen each other in months, people from opposite coasts,” or anyone who is maintaining social distance to fight the coronavirus, Nussbaum added.
It achieves the goal of making life-size holograms accessible for the first time in small spaces, without expensive, custom installations. The devices can beam in people from all over the world, and capture and play holograms of people and animations as well.
The plug-and-play devices are the first of their kind and allow visitors to have actual, free-flowing conversations with people beamed into the freestanding platform. The resulting product puts high-powered, Hollywood-level impact within reach for many types of organizations, and the ability to preserve history and memories in the most effective mode possible.
The PORTL device is 7 feet tall, 5 feet long, and 2 feet deep, and can be plugged into any standard wall outlet.
Prices start at $60,000 for the machine, a cost that Nussbaum expects to decline in the next three to five years. The company is also planning a smaller tabletop version, with a lower price tag.
The device is being promoted to museums, where tourists can enjoy a conversation with the hologram of a historic figure. The device has the potential to become a tool that families use to preserve information for future generations.
