Holograms Archives - ϾƷCloud /news/tag/holograms/ Tech insight with bite Fri, 30 Jul 2021 17:22:06 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2020/07/bc-logo.png Holograms Archives - ϾƷCloud /news/tag/holograms/ 32 32 Can HoloMe rebuild trust in virtual communication? /news/can-holome-rebuild-trust-in-virtual-communication/ Mon, 17 Aug 2020 08:25:39 +0000 /?p=25827 ճ‘Zoom boom’during lockdown hasmadevirtualmeetingsa fixture of the working week. Yet does thatjollyGolden Gate Bridgebackgroundunderminewhat you are looking to achieve? HoloMe (since rebranded as Beem)CEOJanosch Amstutzbelieves so.“If your subconscious feels like something is not right – that it has been doctored, made up or changed in any way, shape or form – itswitches off to the […]

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]]> ճ‘Zoom boom’during lockdown hasmadevirtualmeetingsa fixture of the working week.

Yet does thatjollyGolden Gate Bridgebackgroundunderminewhat you are looking to achieve?

HoloMe (since rebranded as Beem)CEOJanosch Amstutzbelieves so.“If your subconscious feels like something is not right – that it has been doctored, made up or changed in any way, shape or form – itswitches off to the experience,” he tellsϾƷCloud.“As human beings we have this psychological barrier, a primal defence mechanism, that when we view a human-like object or figure,our subconscious needs to be comfortable withit.

“Even Zoom has gone down this pathway of eroding trust in communications – creating false backgrounds, fake face filters – so you can’t tell what’s real and what’s not more.I’m not sure how long Zoom is going to continueasthe business solution of choice if you can’t tell if that person hasmakeup on or not; or if they areactually inthe place where they claim to be. Are they in the office? Or are they on the beach?

“Those things are important when you’re building trust in communication.”

CEO Janosch Amstutz

CEO Janosch Amstutz

Authenticityis at the essence of whatAmstutzand his team are looking to achieve withHoloMe. Winner ofܲԱdzܻ’sLondon Tech 50innovation ranking for 2020, the three-year-old company’s technologyenables the creation of life-size photorealistic holograms which can then be viewed anywhere through a smartphone or AR-enabled device.

London Tech 50

“We are a communications firm first and a tech company second because we consider the psychological aspects of communication [at the outset],” he explains.“The concept is: how do we replicate the physical meeting – a full-body face-to-face – in the digital sphere?

“We want to create a communications method that is as close to normal – or perfect–aspossible.We may be the first communications software in the medium of AR and VR that is able to breach thebarrieroursubconscious puts up.”

If you download theHoloMeapp, within moments you canbewatchinga six-footAmstutzexplaining the firm’s tech in your kitchen or garden. For readers of a certain age, think Rimmer from Red Dwarf minus the H on his forehead.

“Your subconscious is comfortable that I exist andthat I am reallydoing and saying whatyou can see,” he says.“Our experience is the real human:there’s no CGI, there’s no processing.

“Tech has had a bad rap around communication for quite a while, with social media causing psychological issues and problems with self-esteem. I’s often looked at as a net negative for the world.We want torebuild trust in communication by changing the way that we use the digital sphere to communicate.”

The concept of the ‘uncanny valley’– aconcept first introduced in the 1970s by Japanese professor Masahiro Mori– claims thatasrobots appear more humanlike, they become more appealing;but only up to a certain point, whereupon a sense of distrust sets in.

Facebook’sCodec Avatarsproject, whichused AI to recreatepeople’s facial expressions in VR in real-time,may have been a victim of this.Instead of pushing throughavirtualworld wherelifelikevirtual avatarssocialise, it isrival internal projectHorizon,where cartoon avatarswithout legsinteract, which is being given an alpha launch.

“Lack of trustis the issue that Facebookhad[with Codec Avatars],” opinesAmstutz.“With Horizon,thecartoonish charactersareso far detached from being a realistic human that i’s okay again.”

HoloMehas produced virtual catwalks for eCommerce fashion outlet ASOSand enabled H&M models to show off clothes inside people’s homes.The platform has been used topre-record messagingfor theBill and Melinda Gates Foundation charity andcreatean AR music video forWarner Music artist Amir.It has even activatedhuman holograms out of print media with Esquire.

HoloMe's ASOS app

HoloMe’s ASOS app

Howeverthere is a low barrier to entry as creators do not require access to high-end equipment.“We require just a simple single visual camera: it could be your phone, a studio camera or a tracking webcam,” explainsAmstutz.“If you used an iPhone 8 to record me,at the other endyou could see the stubble on my chin, the weave on my sweater. The quality is that high.

“Other businesses have gonefor very heavy studio environments with hundreds of cameras. Intel uses 500 cameras to create the same experience as wedo;theyalsouse 10 terabytes of processing power and five miles of optical fibre cable on their setup.

“We create the same experience, but in a much more scalable way using just a mobile phone.”

DZDzѱ’stech slicesthe human being out ofthe recordedenvironment.“The viewer on the other side could be wearing AR glasses or watching througha phone and see you in their environment as if you were physically present.”

The intention isforthe B2B and B2C strands of the businessto coexist.“We foresee ourB2Csolution driving a lot of traction into B2Basa lot of brands will say‘hey, that solution is amazing…how can I get that intomy own ecosystem?That’s the way we drive our business model.”

HoloMe logo

Launching later this year isHoloMeReal-Time, alivebroadcastsolutionfor the entertainment industry.“Itcould beused bya celebrity,musician,politicianoreducator– anyone witha large audience.It willallowthat sameintimate connection youget insideamusic concert or major conference centre.”

Amstutzspent hischildhoodin SwitzerlandandAustraliawithinalternativehippy communities.Describinghis upbringing as “very richbut very cash poor”, he says he rebelled by becoming a physical commodities trader. When his mother suddenly passed away, hedecided torealign hiscareer with hismorals andlife goals, embarking upon research intothepsychology of virtual communicationwhich wouldculminateinHoloMe.

The firm has an extended workforce of 20 people and has received “significant” investment.“We chose Londonto launchHoloMebecauseit’s the best place to start a tech company in the world–evenbetter than Silicon Valley and New York,”the Swisssays.“It has amixture of opportunity, talent pool, incentivisation, language and the size of the ecosystem.

“If wehadfounded in Silicon Valley, the chances of us getting in the doorofanAdobe,Cisco,Apple or Microsoftwould beinfinitely more challenging than it is in London.We would be one of 200 immersive tech companies, whereas we’re one in 10 in London,so the doors open easier.

“Wenowhave a collaboration with Cisco over the next 12 monthsfor a telepresence solution.”

London Tech 50

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