CNN scores early with Jessica Yellin, the hologram
I know it's technological razzle-dazzle and some purists will argue that the money could somehow be better spent on nuts-and-bolts, boots-on-the-ground journalism, but at 7:15 p.m., CNN beamed a hologram of correspondent Jessica Yellin from Grant Park in Chicago to its election headquarters in New York, and it was stunning.
Bathed in a pool of light and glimmering around the edges, Yellin suddenly appeared in the center of the CNN newsroom to chat with anchor Wolf Blitzer about the huge crowd massing in and around Grant Park in Chicago in hopes of a victory by Barack Obama.
After detailing events in Chicago, Yellin explained the technology that made her hologram possible.
She was standing, she said, in a tent in Chicago surrounded by a ring of 35 high-definition cameras that were in sync via computer with cameras in New York. The 35 Chicago cameras created her image and then sent it to the cameras in New York, so that she appeared in real time as a hologram.
"It's like I follow in the tradition of Princess Leia," Yellin said jokingly.
Blitzer ended the interview, saying, "You were a terrific hologram, Jessica. Thank you very much."
Talk about Tuesday night being historic: It's a safe bet no anchorman ever ended a conversation with a correspondent thanking her for being a good hologram.
Poor Fox News channel. Just before CNN debuted its hologram technology, Fox anchorman Brit Hume was praising his channel's technology that allowed them to show a correspondent against a background so that the reporter almost appeared to be in the background setting -- almost.
The technology that so excited Hume was a modern variation of what Hollywood feature films were using in the 1930s -- I'm not kidding. It was pre-historic by the standards of CNN.
But then, overall, it was an embarrassing night for Fox. By 9:45, shortly after they finally declared Ohio for Obama, Hume & Company seemed as if they didn't know where to turn next. Even analyst Karl Rove couldn't buck them up. It was as if someone let all the air out of the low-tech studio in which they sat.
Comments
Loved the hologram. Very Obi-Wan. But I would have been more interested in seeing Jessica Yellin at her location where crowds were gathering at Grant Park. That's where the news was happening. The hologram would be more useful, I think, to bring an out-of-town interview subject into the newsroom to sit across from Larry King or to join a discussion panel where far flung participants could appear to sit at the same table.
Hi, they had Suzanne Malveaux from Chicago Grant park immediately after. Both Malveaux and Yellin, two of their best correspondents, are in Chicago. Thanks for the comment. Z
Posted by: Stacey Alatzas | November 4, 2008 9:08 PM
I remember when the concept of virtual sets (where backgrounds of remote locations were chromakeyed in) were debated among news directors as deceiving the audience. Now comes a virtual reporter! This should really fuel some good debates.
I agree, and I can't wait to enter the fray on this one. Thanks. Z
Posted by: steve | November 4, 2008 10:15 PM
FOX News might not have been celebrating tonight, but give them SOME credit. They didn't just "finally" declare Ohio for Barack Obama. They were actually the FIRST major network to do so.
Posted by: rufus_ryker | November 5, 2008 1:56 AM
Oh My God!
this is a nice (expensive) trick ever pulled!, it's a primitive form of holographic
image comparing to the SciFi version of Star Wars!
i predict that the holographic images more common then the Ipods!, in 6 or less years from now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"help me, Obi Wan Kenobi!"
Hi, Scoitt, not sure of your point. Can you clarify? thanks. Z
Posted by: Scott Houdek (Orion105) | November 5, 2008 5:55 AM
This technology would explain many biblical events, assuming certain individuals back then had this technology.
Posted by: Mark | November 5, 2008 6:40 AM
OMG, please. Just a simple blue screen trick, no different than the weather guy. The interesting part is the camera tracking to match the panning of the studio cameras to the on-site cameras. But don't make people think anyone in the studio can see her, it's a processing trick. Looks like they have a lot of work to do to clean up the image and reduce distortions. Ranks right up there with Fox's stupid hockey puck effect.
Posted by: ITGuy | November 5, 2008 8:32 AM
Did you watch the same show that I was watching on Fox? Far from seeing glum faces, they seemed genuinely upbeat and happy. Perhaps they weren't popping champagne corks like on the set of CNN, or crying with joy like MSNBC commentators, but then again, they have not been actively campaining for Barack over the past few months and have remained far more nuetral and professional.
As for the hologram, kind of cool but you have to ask why they used it. It appears to me that it was just a cheap gimick designed to boost ratings. Second thought, it probably wasn't that cheap.
Posted by: Ron Pate | November 5, 2008 8:58 AM
That's not a real hologram you idiots! Until you see an image projected into the air, it's not a hologram. dorks. And to criticise FOX like that just shows how pathetic you people are.
Posted by: John | November 5, 2008 1:36 PM
am I the only one impressed by the fact we're taking another tiny step into the future?
are we there yet? is the Cargo Cult biblical? who needs a hologram instead of or in addition to a CGI when the only audience is watching electronically?
would you have written off any hope for that "wireless" invention we eventually called radio because there was too much static on Marconi's first transmission?
Posted by: zorya | November 5, 2008 3:35 PM
It was cool. It was fun.
There seems to have been a lot of backlash about it on a lot of blogs but I think people just need to lighten up and enjoy creative uses of current HD technology.
It is a small step in telecommunications technology and an important one for the overall process of advancement. For those with sentiments of it being a trick or lame, perhaps let's think of the joy such a "trick" would bring to a small child who hadn't seen mommy or daddy for months because they are serving in Iraq. We need to step out of our own little disdaining perspective and just chill a bit.
I could not agree more. Thanks. Z
Posted by: Misty | November 5, 2008 5:35 PM
Ron, I'm assuming Wolf Blitzer could see her image in 3D standing in the studio. (Otherwise it's not really that interesting--and you're right, it wouldn't be a hologram.)
Posted by: Dave310 | November 5, 2008 7:32 PM
Sorry, but that was not a hologram. Holography is a light-wave recording technique very different from what Yellin described. And although she did not admit outright that no image was visible in the studio, she did say that the studio cameras were linked to the computer generating her image, which wouldn't have been necessary if there was a real image in the studio.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 6, 2008 3:29 PM
koooooool , just like on 9/11. TV fakery is neato.
Oh, please, worry about the real problems with TV news -- and there are many of them. It's not "fakery" when it is acknowledged upfront to be what it is. CNN did more sound journalism than anyone else Tuesday night. So, what itf they added a bit of technological splash and dazzle to the evening? Grow up.
Posted by: banned | November 6, 2008 9:49 PM
This will be good for the porn industry....
Posted by: Anonymous | November 13, 2008 1:48 AM