Holography in the Live Space

Evan Pacheco — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 20:20:02 GMT

Where projection is and is going

I) Holograms: Art, A Simple Light Show, or Both?

The act of using projection technology as an art medium is so understandably underrated, as its use made itself known but keeps showing up in the general public in unexpected ways. Music and the arts have mixed heavily with technology over the course of the music industry’s poignant existence throughout the past fifty years. Anyone in 2016 that is 21 and under has a clear image of society that has implemented science and tech into the arts seamlessly, as music has become the platform to experience the most change. People going to laser light shows has been a commodity for years, as holographic imagery has now made its own worth within art sensibilities.

According to Holography.ru, 1962 saw the invention of 3D projection as a visual medium on account of professors Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks from U of Michigan, as equipment for making said laser became standardized. Since the sixties, artists have been utilizing holograms to give a new depth to their art, with Salvador Dali’s 1972 New York hologram exhibit giving light to its use in especially surrealistic art pieces, with one of them being a suspended hologram of Alice Cooper.

Salvador Dali’s Alice Cooper hologram

Especially around this period, no one really had access to any of this technology except for people within higher financial or notoriety positions, as artists usually found themselves teaming up with labs and organizations to execute their ideas. Laserfest.org tells of an artist at the University of Toronto Lowell Cross during the 60s, who utilized his expertise in electronic music by using a RF modulator on a TV receiver to physically conceptualize his own music as well as the works of other composers. Luckily, hologram artists and inventors have acted as true patrons of the technology while contributing to its advancement more and more with further utilization in art instillations. The International Laser Display Association (ILDA) was later founded in the 70s as a trade association for laser display companies, officially legitimizing the business publicly.

Large-scale concerts became more and more associated with heavy visuals reaching the 2000s, as 2010 saw two distinct events: The Super Bowl and Vancouver Olympics. The Super Bowl XLIV halftime show became a definitive event that showcased its use, as rock band the Who walked on to a 16 laser, 40 section display that dazzled audiences across the country through its broadcast. With its intense display, screen and graphic producer Lee Lodges set out to grab at certain feelings the viewers may have towards the event, with the focus being on making the show feel enormous and epic. The 2010 Vancouver Olympics created an even more worldwide phenomenon out of laser shows, with nightly displays controlled by people from around the world. Production designer Bruce Rodgers took the design up as a way of setting a precedent, saying “push the envelope, as an artists that what you want to do.”

Japanese hologram idol Hatsune Miku

The advent of technology used in live music has created a new state of expectation for concertgoers, as large productions are always lathed with lights and visuals. The focus on a full experiential event through live music performance has spurned holograms and visual technology to reach a whole new demand. With this in mind, Japan’s animation culture spurned the creation of the Hatsune Miku/Vocaloid brand that swept the nation quickly beginning in 2007. Vocaloid performances featured entirely projected characters that sung and danced in sequence to the music played, with performances being greeted by thousands of dedicated fans looking to see these projected “idols” in a live setting, as the projections later succeded to being direct support to Lady Gaga’s 2014 ArtPop Tour. Hatsune Miku as a Japanese pop star has become less of a hologram image and more of an actual beloved figure within entertainment culture.

Tupac hologram alongside Dre at Coachella 2012

In 2012, Coachella music festival-goers were surprised as a holographic image of deceased rapper Tupac took the stage along headliners Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, making fans as uncomfortable as they were excited. AV Concepts, the company behind the $100,000–400,000 hologram noted, in MTV news at the time according to their CEO Nick Smith, that they reportedly had already been in the works of resurrecting many other artists through this technology, while working alongside people of familiarity to the deceased people to create the most believable figure, case in point Dr. Dre for the Tupac hologram. This has spurned the holographic resurrection of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley as well as now bringing already living artists to places in an instant, such as MIA and Janelle Monae’s recent project in 2014. This pairing gave them the idea to have a split concert, with MIA performing in New York for the Audi A3 Launch Event and Janelle singing on the West Coast for her own show, each with each others hologram backing the present singer up. The real value of holograms is in their ability to trick the mind for a second to create a sense of surrealism that AR/VR does not have substance-wise.

As the larger events have showcased hologram potential in large settings, their use in intimate art exhibits have only grown, with products like Volume that, according to The Verge, can be used to volumetrically display 3D images in its small box shape. Home settings are looking more and more into Microsoft’s HoloLens type technology where large displays can be seen and adjusted with a responsive headset, which will allow for users to experience streamed content with a new sense of intimacy. Holograms occupy a spot in the technology and performance market that promotes artist and tech curated media consumption with a specific mental experience added to whatever medium is being observed.

II) The Casual Integration of Holograms into Live Music and Daily Thought

Back in 2012, it was an intentionally and overwhelmingly shocking concept for fans to see Tupac on stage performing with an aged Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg but as time has gone on and more of these sort of events have been happening media reaction has become much less bombastic. As Jenni Rivera’s hologram was recently resurrected at the Day of the Dead event in Hollywood, more family members of artists and companies are setting out to make holographic guest appearances and full on concerts a special but more frequented experience, as the focus of companies like AV Concepts and Obscura Digital. There is no way to truly tell but it seems as if this continued focus on the visual quality of live performance will reach a stage where huge light productions with projected artists and images will be an almost thoughtless and casual experience in large and small settings.

The company NICT recently developed a technology that allows for see through projection-type displays in small settings with a focus on “industrial application such as digital signage, heads-up displays on cars, smart glasses and head-mounted displays”. If this technology continues to reach the living room as quickly as it seems it could, its application into smaller art environments could be incredibly versatile and opening of possibilities for small 3D artists to emerge. The Volume’s waning functionality between displaying 3D images and being a 3 dimensional etch-a-sketch seems to be a pretty solidified example of where this technology could implement itself into small instillations, as the $999 price could reach a stable point soon enough. If the start up company Looking Glass were to implement the range of plugins they intend to, the Volume will be able to support 2D creation tools for artists, as a whole new realm of visual art to explore and master.

Concept of this approach and some examples of NICT application

These blatant attempts at technological progress within media consumption also bleed into the deculturization of the medium and the entertainment industry. With artists like Gorillaz using animations and figures as branding tools, artists new and old will be able to construct their image and visuals around their holograms instead, while being able to choose whether they want to perform alongside their work or not as the Gorillaz do. If holograms do become main stay then artists that never could make it across the globe could be projected in places they’ve never played in before, as a consumer may go just because they know they might never get a chance to see something similar. Foreign artists with hologram focus could quickly become famous in other parts of the world through hologram shows, as venues that now accommodate projection-based shows sound plausible.

Fictional character 2D from the Gorillaz

Not saying that this will take hold of the market for live performance but there is definitely room within the live music market for super fans and fans of deceased artists especially. Vogue magazine’s article on paying to see holograms brings up the important idea that this now gives fans a new voice for their desired entertainment. The ability to resurrect artists they love while possibly putting them alongside their favorite modern artists could open the concertgoer mind and change intentions on what kinds of concerts they would rather attend, as group fervor could reunite rock bands on the spot. This could mean that large-scale talent agencies could invest in IP from labels and publishers to be able to put a hologram on tour with a real artist/another hologram. The proprietors of a deceased artist’s intellectual property could license out the Intellectual property to agents to let them freely book a tour with their likeness if they so choose to.

As the Hatsune Miku hologram has already played a New York City show at the Hammerstein Ballroom alongside US band Anamanaguchi, hologram based shows have definitively shown that a brand from across the world can sell out a show as a concert-going experience. Bands playing shows as holographic, non-famous brands and promoting themselves through their live music experience, as well as footage of such, does not sound too far off. It’ll definitely take time for more and more people to grasp the concept of going to a show with a new focus on visuals but all of this will further enhance the sensory experience of live music while giving the experiencers time to settle in to the trend and enjoy whatever content that may begin to surround them.

Holograms will eventually find their way into the thoughtless vernacular of people in the US, as media continues to evolve and consumption becomes more converged alongside other visual technologies.

III) Holograms Amongst Us

What if everyone became used to hologram and projection technology paired with his or her media consumption? Holograms will become ingrained in media and arts consumption, as a new generation of young artists with focus on 3D design and execution will emerge, with the help of capable art spaces and venues to showcase their work. A new scenario of music spaces could occur with a new string of venues that will open across the US showcasing their detailed projection set ups, as promoters contact talent agents to pay fees for holograms of artists they represent to come perform visually from around the world. Alongside strictly hologram venues are venues that have installed technology to accommodate for certain artists to come perform, with venues like Baby’s All Right and the Mercury Lounge being able to add a new depth to their already extensive lighting displays. With 3D designed shows, ticket prices may also hike up for certain artist’s extravagant shows with cheaper prices for their hologram performances.

Here We Go Magic at Baby’s All Right

The focus of different companies trying to hone in on projection technology would be to make the holograms as real looking as possible, as a means of crossing the “uncanny valley” into a non-discomforting state. One scenario sees AV Concepts and HologramUSA having the capabilities to take off to a point where they will have collaborated with many artist proprietors for a new, full catalogue of artists that they have the rights to and will bring into projected form. Live music promoters will have an entirely different approach to booking their shows, keeping in mind people’s inclinations towards certain artists local and far depending on what’s in demand there. Large venues like Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall host projection-centric events with spectacular hologram shows alongside projected artists as a full entertainment experiences.

New age hologram bands would run amuck if put in the hands of a younger generation looking to expand it creatively. One scenario may have bands like the Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn giving up his live band all together for strictly hologram shows world round. Overall concertgoer expectations are going to be different depending on the individual as their focus may shift towards the sonic value of the music but some may be expecting that full production experience in large and small settings.

Vogue put light on the notion of producers just wanting to exploit nostalgia through this form. There’s no doubt that some will slander hologram shows as being disingenuous or lacking intimacy but, like any art form, the subjective experience and opinion on the matter is what makes its use truly artistic, as many will see that and take full advantage of its capabilities. The idea could be argued that the dead should stay dead but with most of this planning being paired with permission from the deceased’s loved ones the representation can still remain sanctified. If permission was granted from all IP owners, festivals may have a chance to follow in the footsteps of Coachella but kick it up a notch by having strictly holographic performers as well as holograms interacting with human performers. The most pressing issue would be being gaining the ability to use a deceased person’s likeness, as someone can pass on their image and IP as an asset from their death in certain states like California but not in others like New York.

Volumetric readings from the Volume

Hologram technology in the live space seems like an almost obvious next step but if the technology does not reach a small state, as its use goes up in live music, its use within other art forms may be forgotten or put to the sidelines. As tech and lighting companies focus on monetizing on its success in live music, most projection manufacturers may lean towards music away from the more intimate art space, as the tech may get larger and more complicated to adhere to the best possible dimensions obtainable. On the other hand, as the niche side of art may continue more and more people in smaller art and music spaces may attempt at creating their own displays, in the sense of an artist writing and recording their music while also making displays to accompany it. Perhaps DIY hologram shows may surface through make-shifted technology.

Holography shows much entertainment potential for the future of music and art but it does seem like one of those technological commodities that will take little time to develop into a household product. It all has obvious value within large live events but it’s slowly trickling down into a consumer market, as larger events preface where the technology could surface in large settings and lead the way towards true versatility in performance.