Jessica Yellin's hologram on CNN

Election Day has come and gone, and Americans have made history by electing the first African-American president. However, Barack Obama is not alone when it comes to making history.

CNN also broke new ground during the 2008 election… by transmitting “holograms” of correspondents Jessica Yellin and Will.i.am from remote locations to CNN’s New York studio.

While the technology behind the hologram is revolutionary, CNN’s “hologram” is actually not a hologram at all. Even though it looks like the hologram is beamed from the floor of the studio, the end result on your TV is actually a combination of studio and hologram feeds.

Thirty-five high definition cameras surrounding the correspondents were used to record their images, and infrared technology was used to track their movements. The “hologram” feed was then combined with the studio coverage, which made it seem as though the hologram was actually beamed into the studio.

Regardless of the fact that Wolf Blitzer was not in fact talking to Jessica Yellin’s hologram, but to an empty set, CNN’s hologram technology is really, really cool. And also holds potential for gaining viewers. People were watching CNN to keep up with the election last night who usually don’t tune into the network, and if they were entertained by the holographic correspondants, they may choose to watch CNN more often.

But even if CNN’s holograms don’t bring in more viewers, they have definitely attracted a lot of attention, which is never a bad thing.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 5th, 2008 at 9:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.