Holographic calls: mobile operators Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone have joined forces with the deep tech company MATSUKO which is spearheading the move to 3D calls.
The idea would be that rather than just seeing a real-time video, you would see a 3D virtual person like a hologram.
The Slovenian company developed a technology that is focused on making Star Wars holograms but is using similar tech to make more life-like holograms.
The telecom companies announced on Wednesday they had participated in a pilot programme to try out the holographic calls, which are aiming to have a “broadcast quality”.
A smartphone camera captures a 2D video of the person sending the hologram. The video stream is then processed in the cloud to turn it into a 3D hologram which can be broadcast to viewers.
This initial proof of concept test enabled a holographic call so that the viewer could see a virtual hologram-type person.
Although the sender does not need any Mixed Reality (MR), Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR) hardware, those viewing the hologram may need it. However, it can still be seen just with a smartphone.
