Move over R2D2! Holoportation Is Real And Changing The Face Of Humanity

Are we becoming less human? 

Sounds like a silly question, but when you look at how technology is developing, the kinds of things being developed, and where it all seems to be going, you get the sense that being human is on the road to obsolescence. 

Take a story I read about today in Wired Magazine dated April 2016 about the rise of "holoportation"--a terms Microsoft has created for its new hologram solution. As Wired describes, "Holoportation, as the name implies, projects a live hologram of a person into another room, where they can interact with whomever’s present in real time as though they were actually there." And what inspired holoportation? The amount of time researchers had away from family, and the desire to reach out to them in a more effective way than merely Skype or FaceTime: “We have two young children," said Izadi, one of the key researchers of the program, "and there was really this sense of not really being able to communicate as effectively as we would have liked,” Izadi says. “Tools such as video conferencing, phone calls, are just not engaging enough for young children. It’s just not the same as physically being there.” The way Microsoft has developed holoportation is to rig up a room with sophisticated 3D cameras that take images of every angle of the individual and the space he or she is in. Once all the images are captured, the custom software stitches them together into a full 3D image. 

Watch holoportation at work!

As a father, I can only imagine coming home to see my teenagers surrounded by their friends who then holoport themselves away when I enter the room. Very strange. 

But get this: to make the technology ubiquitous, Microsoft claimed all one would need is a VR headset. Well, as I reported last week, Microsoft has hooked up recently with Intel to share their knowledge of how to build virtual reality headsets with other VR companies--a way to make this technology ubiquitous. I also echoed the words of Ray Kurzweil who maintains that VR is key to immortality--yes immortality. Through holoportation, one can see how humans will transport themselves all over the world and even to other worlds.

But there is certainly a difference between encountering a physical person and a hologram. I suppose one could see a technology developed that would trigger sensations in the brain to give one the feeling of being with a physical person while in virtual reality. But, again, is being with a physical person a difference that makes a difference for intimacy and overall human relationship? Is a holographic conversation with my child the same as actually being in the room with him? Is there something important about human connection?  What about when I am sad or hurting? Can a hologram really console me?