skyjuiceiswater: The Holographic Technology Used on the Stage

6 January 2022

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1) Update : 8 January 2022 Which Video Show is more impressive?

Jiangsu Satellite TV held a New Year's Eve Concert on eve of 31 December 2021. It is a concert where a renowned Chinese Singer called Zhou Shen (周深) sang a song together with Teresa Deng Li Jun (邓丽君) on the stage. Deng Li Jun is a famous Taiwanese Singer who passed away on 8 May 1995 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

How Do They Do it?

There were no exact details on how they did it; but, it is believed they make use of illusion techniques that have been used extensively on the stage. A simple example is illustrated as follows.

This technique will enable the audiences or viewers to enjoy the 3D photography display without the need of wearing any glasses or gear.

Illusion Technique?

It is a sort of technique to "trick" one's brain so as to see a 3D object as if the object is floating in the air. Many referred to this as Holographic technology. It is a technique that has been used a centennial ago by a man called John Henry Pepper who in 1826 came up with a set-up that could show 3D images on the stage. This technique is now called "Pepper's Ghost"

Today, this technique is still being used but the illusion effect is much better because of better image processing and projection technologies. But, there is one thing that has never changed since Pepper's day in 1826; that is the use of a projection screen on the stage. What has been changed is the direction of the screen decline and the way to project the image.

The Way of Projection

In the past, most theatres used declining screens at a 45-degree angle just like what Pepper has used in the last centennial. Today, the screen is likely to be vertical for better aesthetic and arrangement. One screen maker has this illustration on how to locate the projector and the screen.

Isn't Pepper's Ghost a Holographic Technology?

For some reason, many theatres called Pepper's Ghost stage a holographic stage. That is just a promotional gimmick to attract more audiences. There is nothing holographic about Pepper's Ghost stage setup.

Today, real holographic technology is still in the development stage. It has not been fully commercialised for stage application. This is mainly because of the limitations in laser and computerisation technology. The complicated and expensive setup makes it difficult to give a realistic performance on the stage.

What other 3D Techniques are available for Stage?

There is still no other 3D display techniques available today for stage performance if one does not expect the audiences to wear some glasses and gear. However, some theatres have used augmented virtual reality techniques; one example is this performance by Teresa Deng Li Jun (邓丽君) in 2017 where she performed in front and at close distance to the audience, It is believed that the theatre is using augmented virtual reality rather than the normal pepper's ghost technique.

What is Augmented Virtual Reality?

This is one new technology that makes use of photographic equipment like a handphone to superimpose 2 objects from different locations so that the videos or pictures taken appears to be having the two objects co-existing in one location. Take the following picture for example, the polar bear and the members of the family in the picture are seen to be on an iceberg. Actually, the picture of the iceberg and the polar bear was taken separately from another location. The pictures are then superimposed together by photographic equipment and projected onto a large screen to show that the family and the polar bear are together on the iceberg.