It’s getting late at Coachella. The final set is winding down, there’s just a few songs left. The stage is dark. Suddenly, rising onto the stage is…Tupac Shakur. But didn’t he die in 1996?
What those at Coachella, and millions more on the internet, actually saw was a hologram of the deceased rapper. A projector was placed on the top of the stage and projected a moving image of Tupac onto the floor. This image was then reflected into a mirror on the stage which allowed the hologram to seemingly interact with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre on stage.
Instantly after the Tupac hologram took the stage, the internet was ablaze. Millions tweeted about the performance, expressing their excitement or how the hologram disturbed them. Regardless of what you felt about the holographic performance, everyone can agree that it ignited global conversation on the future of holograms and entertainment.
“This is obviously a historic and exciting initiative that we’re all witnessing currently, and it would make sense for them to bring it to Europe and maybe take it to the rest of the world,” answered Dr. Dre in response to rumors of a Tupac hologram tour.
The conversation doesn’t stop at Tupac. It didn’t even start with him. In 2010, Japan put in a bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a promise that they would have the technology to broadcast every World Cup game in major stadiums across the world via holograms. For example, you could go to Metlife Stadium and watch holograms play a live game of soccer that is happening in Japan. Japan did not win the right to host the World Cup, but they started a conversation about holograms that Coachella only fueled.
”You can take likenesses and voice and take people that haven’t done concerts before or perform music they haven’t sung and digitally recreate it,” said Nick Smith, president of AV Concepts, the company that created the Tupac hologram. Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, and even recently deceased Whitney Houston are all names being thrown around to be brought back to life through hologram technology.
“[The tour] could have Michael—absolutely. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” said Jackie Jackson, Michael Jackson’s brother, in regards to the idea of having a Michael Jackson hologram join him and his brothers on tour. While he said that there will be no hologram on their 2012 tour, he said he hopes his deceased brother can join them on future tours as a hologram.
With all the excitement around holographic performances, the possibilities are truly endless.