This is part two of a three-part blog series on ARHT Media’s new Holographic TelePresence technology, distributed in the U.S. exclusively through Almo Professional A/V. You can find part one here.
Providers like Zoom have done an amazing job supporting the new remote world this year. But if you’re now video conferencing all day, you may be “Zoomed out” from all the video calls. I know I am.
What seems like endless video conferences, webinars, and virtual meetings has been, well, fine. And necessary during this cultural shift in work and meetings. But we can only thrive so long on standard 2D video conferencing.
In remote and virtual settings, 2D video conferencing only scratches the surface of what is possible.
In part one of this three-part blog series, we gave you the scoop on something new and exciting that could change video meetings and virtual events. That something is called Holographic TelePresence, and it’s a solution from ARHT Media that brings lifelike, interactive holographic display content to your event, room or computer screen. Holographic TelePresences creates a unique and highly engaging experience like no other.
To add to the excitement, ARHT’s new Virtual Global Stage (VGS)platform is a premium, digital experience. It offers the look and feel of a professional broadcast but streamed online. Through the Virtual Global Stage, presenters, panelists and lecturers around the world can participate from wherever they can access a capture studio.
Imagine the possibilities when you eliminate the need for a huge venue, expensive travel, and the physical gathering of attendees.
Unlike AR and VR, No Headset Is Needed With Holographic TelePresence
Do you know how hologram technology works? Below, we explain how ARHT Media does it.
Using proprietary technology, capture studios, and standard projection equipment, Holographic TelePresence “beams” presenters into one or multiple venues simultaneously. You may also hear the technology referred to as HoloPresence, short for “holographic presence.” Presenters can be located anywhere in the world — they just need the equipment and access to the platform via the web. Along with a new hologram presentation platform known as the Virtual Global Stage, Holographic TelePresence enables hybrid events — with some participants attending remotely and some attending live.
In other words, ARHT’s hologram events can run with all-remote participants/presenters, or with some live and some remote participants/presenters. Attendees and speakers choose how they participate — remotely or face to face — which empowers choice and flexibility. The value is that events can reach their largest possible audience. Organizations can also deliver a premium experience that goes well beyond the 2D video call.
To explain how Holographic TelePresence works, we’ll distinguish it from holograms, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
Holographic TelePresence vs. Holograms:There is a distinction to be made between true holograms — 3D images produced in mid-air — and Holographic TelePresence. The “ARHT” (pronounced “art”) in ARHT Media stands for Augmented Reality Holographic Technology. It turns out that ARHT’s solution is not exactly equatable to a hologram, even though the final result appears as one. (Quick note: we will refer to the imagery produced by ARHT’s technology as “holograms;” just know we’re using that term as a general understanding of the final result — lifelike images that appear to the audience as holograms. We’re doing that for simplicity’s sake, not specifically to annoy the technology purists out there.)
Holographic TelePresence vs. AR and VR: How does ARHT’s solution differ from other new hologram technology, virtual reality and augmented reality? VR blocks out your ability to see and hear the real world — usually through a VR headset. AR uses a computer and, sometimes, a special headset or glasses to create digital objects and overlay them onto what you see in our physical world. Are you familiar with Pokémon GO? That’s also augmented reality.
Holographic TelePresence is a projection that uses an illusion effect powered by ARHT’s “HumaGram” technology. ARHT’s technique is more sophisticated than others you may know, like Pepper’s Ghost. Contrasting AR and VR to Holographic TelePresence, ARHT’s solution is neither augmented reality nor virtual reality alone. Holographic AR is steps beyond — no headset or special glasses needed.
With these distinctions and a new understanding, we’re ready to reveal the minimal equipment it takes to deploy ARHT’s hologram technology in any space.
Debunking the Technology
To virtually stage a room, Holographic TelePresence requires a more precise setup than video conferencing or a remote presentation system, but the concept and necessary equipment are pretty straightforward. ARHT’s setup is a combination of video shot in front of a backdrop, then projected on stage (or “on stage,” if being done virtually) onto a screen. So, the production needs a screen, as well as controlled lighting, to ensure the projection is bright and visible.
In an article with Inavate Magazine, Andrew Parry, an online learning video producer at Imperial College Business School, explained further. Elements to consider include the capture space (plus, distance between camera and subject), the height/positioning of the camera, and lighting. In the case of Imperial College’s virtual stage design, Parry explained, lights placed behind the subject backlit everything, including shoes. He added that there were also two lights arranged in front of the subject to improve the lighting of the human hologram on the other end.
Factors such as lighting and camera angle ensure that the final result — holographic display images on the screen — is an accurate representation in terms of body shape and dimensions. Thankfully, the AV industry is quite familiar with the principles of projection, making the execution of this technology, once learned, quite straightforward.
Below, you’ll see some behind-the-scenes photos of the setup in a recent hologram teleconference held live with ARHT’s hologram tech. In the interview, rAVe [PUBS] founder Gary Kayye (beaming in from North Carolina) and Almo’s Sam Taylor (beaming in from Maryland) are using ARHT’s Virtual Global Stage. To the audience, the two appeared virtually on the same “stage” with no editing, and no latency lag, having a real-time conversation about the emerging interactive hologram technology.
Will Hologram Technology Change Business in 2020?
While holograms have gotten plenty of attention in the media these past few years, many could be asking if this is just a trend. Will on-stage holograms like ARHT Media’s become big business? What can we expect from hologram technology in the future?
We believe any industry — higher education, live events, advertising and entertainment, healthcare, corporate spaces, meeting spaces, you name it — will benefit from 3D holographic display technology.
This is part one of a three-part blog series on ARHT Media’s new Holographic TelePresence technology, distributed in the U.S. exclusively through Almo Professional A/V. Look for part two in the coming weeks.
Almo Professional A/V and ARHT Media, Inc. have an exciting new partnership and offering that could transform the landscape for digital meetings, events and hybrid/virtual learning. This new solution, in fact, could enhance almost any application in which a face-to-face interaction or presentation, prior to COVID-19, would have been the norm. The technology, developed by ARHT, is called Holographic TelePresence, and Almo is now the exclusive U.S. distributor for it. Through this solution, we can deliver a unique and highly engaging holographic display experience like never before.
What does this mean for you? Is interactive holographic display technology really something to pay attention to right now?
Holographic teleconferences are here to stay. ARHT’s 3D hologram meetings aren’t just intended to create a one-off “wow” moment — though they definitely do that, and it’s certainly a plus. The real value is when you find a technology platform that helps you overcome a bigger business issue. In the face of COVID-19 today, that bigger business issue is a lack of engagement with remote work, digital and virtual events, and (seemingly endless) conference calls.
The end goal is that participants, both online and in-person, want to use hologram media again and again. ARHT’s hologram tech makes this possible. The technology is ideal for panels, trainings in conference rooms, or even town halls. Hologram tech also amplifies product launches, hologram advertising, hologram teleconferences, hologram trade show displays, and more.
Almo Pro A/V EVP and COO Sam Taylor beamed onto the Virtual Global Stage to talk to rAVe [PUBS] founder Gary Kayye about ARHT Media’s technology, available through Almo.
What Is Holographic TelePresence?
The solution, Holographic TelePresence, powers hybrid events that take place both online and offline simultaneously — possible alongside a new feature of the platform called the Virtual Global Stage (VGS). The technology, HoloPresence (or “holographic presence”), enables presenters to appear remotely, as holograms, in front of an audience to speak and interact with them in real-time.
A bit more about how it works:
Presenters appear in lifesize proportions with the capacity to interact with audience members (and the other panelists) virtually. As you saw from the above video, the virtual stage design is clean and to realistic proportions; plus, you can virtually stage a room to your liking.
The Virtual Global Stage is powered by the same proprietary transmission software in ARHT’s new hologram technology; it allows you to “beam in” multiple presenters into any virtual, online environment. The Virtual Global Stage feature is great for applications like large meetings, conferences and events.
Both live and prerecorded hologram appearances are supported for a range of applications — like elevated guest lectures, trade shows, and advertising and marketing campaigns.
This solution completely amplifies virtual interactions, online presentations, and hologram services in a way that your customer has never seen. With it, organizations, advertisers, and event marketers can reach a proportionately larger audience and deliver a premium hologram presentation that goes well beyond the 2D video call. Meanwhile, presenters benefit by being able to use key aspects of natural communication, like body language, to deliver a more engaging message and experience to attendees.
How Do Holograms Work on Stage?
What does the audience actually see when experiencing one of ARHT’s holograms? Proprietary HoloPresence displays — lifelike “holograms” that give a sense of presence and being in the same room as the hologram presenter. Those hologram presenters are realized through augmented reality. (Insider tip: the “ARHT” in ARHT Media stands for Augmented Reality Holographic Technology.)
Quick explanation: The word “hologram” has, perhaps confusingly, become synonymous with any 3D imagery. It’s worthwhile to make the distinction between ARHT’s hologram technology and various illusion effect techniques, like Pepper’s Ghost, used to achieve a 3D effect. Know that we’re using the term “hologram” as a ubiquitous understanding of the final result — lifelike images that appear to the audience as holograms, 3D images in mid-air.
Anyway, any AV arm wanting to add holographic technology to its wheelhouse should understand the different techniques to achieve a 3D effect on stage — and the costs of each. Take ARHT Media’s resurrection of James Naismith, for example. Here, Holographic TelePresence was even more innovative and cost-effective than projections using Pepper’s Ghost. Instead, ARHT’s photorealistic “HumaGram” technique is behind the effect.
If you need proof, Dr. David Lefevre, director of the Imperial College’s Edtech Lab and an ARHT Media client, gives it to you. Dr. Lefevre said to the BBC, “The problem with Pepper’s Ghost is that it can be intricate to set up and can cost about £150,000 to run an event.”
Referencing Holographic TelePresence, “This is simpler — you project upon a glass screen, and a backdrop behind it uses software to give it an illusion of depth. It runs at the low thousands each time, so for the first time universities can afford it,” Dr. Lefevre added.
Low Cost, High Reward: Why Now Is The Perfect Time for 3D Holographic Display Tech
What do hologram solutions do that traditional video doesn’t?
First, there’s a wow factor you don’t get with 2D video conferencing. While holograms seem to be a part of our everyday lives in film, it’s not every day that you actually see this type of presentation technology as such an attainable reality.
Viewers also benefit from more lifelike content, too. In a classroom, for example, presentations from human holograms — whether a guest lecturer or students’ everyday professor — help aid in retention and engagement. The more we can replicate real-life interactivity in our virtual spaces, the more it’ll be embraced.
Even though we all miss that in-person interaction, it is no longer the only way we do business. The mass deployment of video conferencing solutions in early 2020 was a big step forward for AV — but video chat and 2D video conference software only scratches the surface of what’s possible. Holographic TelePresence brings prime-time to all of us and completely enhances the way we interact virtually.
Get in touch with Almo today for more information, and visit www.almoproav.com/holographic-telepresence to talk to your regional service development manager about Holographic TelePresence.
As Almo Professional AV prepares to celebrate 10 years in operation as business unit of Almo Corporation I feel grateful and proud to be part of this great organization. Looking back to 2009, at the origination of the division we had no vendor partners and no customers while today we have thousands of loyal customers and amazing partnerships with approximately 50 of the most desired manufacturers in the industry.
While many key factors have contributed to our mutual success with our customers and vendor partners, one key driver is our intentional strategy to keep our line card relatively narrow and focused compared to other distribution companies. When it comes to displays and projectors we aim to partner with a wide range of vendors to support the demand in the marketplace, however in other product categories we have chosen to partner with only a small number of manufacturers that we feel to be the best in class. This strategy has helped Almo to remain important to our existing partners as well as enabled us to better support a more narrow set of vendors.
With this, you won’t see very many new vendor partnerships announced by Almo each year. However, when it makes sense for a new partnership in the eyes of Almo and the potential vendor and we feel the partnership will bring value to our loyal customers then we will move forward with a new product offering. The last six to nine months we have found ourselves in a situation where there were several new partnerships taking place including D-Link, Ecler, VDO360, and Vivitek.
If you have had the opportunity to attend any of our recent E4 Experience events you likely heard our keynote speaker Gary Kayye talking about the emergence of AV over IP solutions. If you think about it, all sorts of professional A/V products now have a network port and can live on an IP network. The addition of D-Link now gives our customers the ability to include the networking solutions (i.e. switches, wireless routers, etc.) along with the rest of the gear they are sourcing from Almo for their given project.
Ecler, while probably not a familiar name to you here in the United States has been providing high quality commercial audio solutions in Europe for over 50 years. Through our partnership as the exclusive distributor in the United States Almo can offer our customers high quality proven products including loudspeakers, amplifiers, DSP, mixers & more at competitive pricing all while helping dealers to maintain healthy margins on their projects.
When it comes to soft codec based video conferencing, Zoom has taken the world by storm so it’s only natural that manufacturers are offering products that integrate with soft codec platforms. One of the challenges is including different components from different vendors that may or may not be tested or certified by Zoom potentially leading to support issues post installation. One of the things that attracted us to VDO360 was their single SKU, single box ZoomRoom kit that includes the camera, audio conferencing, PC, tablet controller and all required cabling, leaving out only the display.
While we were already well served with our existing projector manufacturer relationships, the addition of Vivitek adds a little more depth to our line up and will provide our customers with quality projector hardware at price points that may have not been previously available, with strong programs to enhance dealer’s margins.
Please visit www.almoproav.com or contact your Almo Account Manager for additional details on these solutions. Next stop, InfoComm 19. Register with code ALM123 for a free pass.
Whether you are the owner of a small AV integration firm or a manager at a large national integrator chances are you are faced with the same struggle of finding the time to attend training for yourself or send your employees for training. Often this can be costly and time consuming however the benefits of a highly trained workforce will almost always outweigh the short term costs. Here are five reasons you should consider training for yourself or for your staff:
1.
Staying on Top of the Latest Technology Trends
I think we can all agree that like many industries the world of commercial AV technology is constantly changing and evolving, not only with the technology itself, but with the needs of our customers. A recent example of this has been the explosive growth in “huddle spaces” within corporations, and the technology advancements developed to meet these needs. If you are not aware of the latest trends and equipped to handle them you will likely find yourself losing business to competitors.
2.
Enhance Customer Service
Think about a time when you were interested in making a purchase, any type of purchase, it doesn’t have to be technology, and you felt your sales person was not educated about the product. How did that make you feel about that company? Your customers will always get better service from a well-trained employee, whether it is your sales person, project manager or installation technician.
3.
Keep Your Certifications Current
While there are many certifications in our industry, the most common and well recognized is infoComm’s CTS. The CTS, CTS-I, and CTS-D are important designations and require a significant amount of time and effort to achieve. Any CTS holder understands the importance of continuing education and obtaining CTS RU’s in order to maintain their certification. RU’s can be obtained in a variety of different methods including live classroom training, various trade events like Almo’s E4 AV Tour, and webinars.
4.
Less Supervision
As an owner or manager you are faced with the difficult challenge of running your business and managing employees often while being involved in work that could be handled by properly trained employees freeing you up for other tasks. Well trained employees will be able to work more independently without the need for constant guidance, and will help your staff be more confident and satisfied in their job.
5.
Reduce Employee Turnover
Hiring new employees can be time consuming, expensive, and involve risk if the right hire is not made. Providing training opportunities for your employees shows them your interest in advancing their professional skills and will enhance company loyalty and increased employee contributions to your business. Often, employees thrive on knowing they are a key contributor to their company as much as they enjoy monetary compensation.
Almo’s E4 AV Tourhas stops in New York on September 19th and in California on October 3rd , and in addition to an exhibit of the newest technology from over 35 top manufacturers, attendees will have the ability to earn InfoComm CTS RU’s throughout the day via classroom training.
Each Spring and Fall Almo’s E4 Tour swings through two major cities and brings along with it an entire day’s worth of CTS accredited educational courses and gets roughly 40 of the top manufacturers in the professional audio video industry all in one room showcasing their newest product offerings.
As a technology professional and a self-proclaimed “AV Geek” these events are always exciting to me as I am often one of the first people to see new and emerging technology. Sometimes it’s electronics, or perhaps software, or even bent metal making the installation of said technology easier and more efficient. There were a handful of stand-out products that were featured at our Fall shows this year that are worth checking out.
1.) ATEN VM3909H – 9×9 HDMI HDBaseT-Lite Matrix Switch: Remember way back when where the number of hot dogs in a package did not always match the number of buns in a package? I realize it is a silly reference, but try doing a 3×3 video wall with an 8×8 matrix switch. The folks at ATEN were mindful of this when they introduced this 9×9 HDMI matrix switch earlier this year. An addition to the 9 HDMI outputs it has 9 HDBaseT Lite outputs allowing the switch to be located up to 70m away from the video wall using the appropriate HDBaseT receivers. A simple front panel control and GUI interface to create simple video wall layouts round out the feature set of this Red Dot Award winning product.
2.)Chief SYS Projector Mount System Series: The engineers at Chief really did their homework on this one keeping the installer in mind with features not found in other mounting systems. This system not only saves time on the install but is aesthetically pleasing. Installers will love the fact that the mount and column come pre-assembled and even the box is designed so that the parts needed first are packaged on top. Micro adjustments for perfect alignment can be made without any tools and the 0”-12” adjustable column has separate cable management channels for both high and low voltage cabling.
3.)tvONE ONErack – Universal Rack Mounting System for Small Devices: While small devices such as HDBaseT transmitters, format converters, small audio products and more are convenient because of their size they can quickly make a mess of your equipment rack since in many cases they are not specifically designed to be mounted or secured into a traditional 19” rack space. Not only that, but they also generally have large wall-wart type power supplies which can clutter power distribution units within the rack. Available in 4RU, 5RU, and 6RU chassis models, this system converts randomly sized small AV devices into slide-in modules while consolidating power for all devices within the system. An optional active cooling system is available for situations where you are populating a large number of devices.
4.)Atlona AT-UHD-HDVS-300-KIT – Soft Codec Conferencing System: As more and more companies adopt PC-based conferencing codecs like Skype, WebEx, & GoToMeeting in place of traditional hardware based codecs for smaller conference rooms and huddle spaces the need for external USB microphones and cameras has increased with the desire for quality meetings. In order to accomplish this typical systems require AV extenders, USB extenders, USB hubs, multiple remotes, plus all of the required cables. Atlona’s system accomplishes this with just two devices and a single category cable. This unit also is a 4 input auto sensing AV switcher and provides automatic display control via CEC, IP, and RS-232 allowing users to start meetings quickly and easily.
5.)Almo CONTROL – Control System & DSP Programming Services: Almo got into offering services two years ago with the introduction of digital signage content creation and since then have added services for installation as well as telecom services. Almo CONTROL is the most recent introduction and was launched at the E4 Fall tour this year. With Almo CONTROL integrators can potentially take on more projects with access to additional programming resources, or where they have expertise in one system but need resources for another. Our programmers have been providing outstanding control system programming and system commissioning support services since the year 2000.
With all of the changes in our industry and constantly evolving technology I look forward to see what lies ahead in 2017.
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