Slated to be unveiled in the 2012 Tampa Republican Party
National Convention before it was “upstaged” by Hurricane Isaac, is the Ronald
Reagan 3D hologram nothing more than the latest political campaign gimmick?
By: Ringo Bones
Rumor has it that the Ronald Reagan 3D hologram wasn’t used
in the 2012 Tampa Republican Party National Convention because the GOP top
brass are afraid it might “upstage” a “one-dimensional” Mitt Romney or there was
also a rumor that the GOP top brass never got time to obtain insurance for the
“high tech” equipment to be used to run the Ronald Reagan 3D hologram during
the Republican Convention in Tampa. Some US Republican Party insiders even say
that the more “moderate” members of the GOP top brass are afraid that the
Ronald Reagan hologram could be used for partisan purposes. But anyway, does
the Ronald Reagan 3D hologram truly represent the latest in the somewhat
arrested development of 3D holography technology – or nothing more than mere
“political campaign gimmickry”?
To older folks closely following development trends in 3D
video technology, some of them might be mistaken that the Ronald Reagan 3D
hologram could be the cutting edge in the still young science 3D holography because
back in May 24, 1991, NASA first tried out its newly developed 3D laser
scanning technology on Ronald Reagan – who was then happily retiring in his
Santa Barbara, California home, making him the first ever US President to get a
3D holographic portrait. Whether the 3D data obtained by NASA back in 1991 was
used on the 2012 3D hologram of Ronald Reagan the GOP top brass didn’t say. But
an article in the New Scientist magazine says that the technology behind the 3D
hologram of Ronald Reagan to be used in Tampa was the very same one used on the
posthumous Tupac 3D hologram featured in the Coachella show.
Both the Tupac and Reagan 3D holograms used a technique
called Pepper’s Ghost projection technology – a holographic imaging technique which was
already around since the 1800s. Both CGI and live footage mix were used by the
3D holography technicians at Digital Domain – James Cameron’s visual effects
company – to create the Tupac posthumous concert 3D hologram and the posthumous
“live action” 3D hologram of Ronald Reagan. Pepper’s Ghost technology works by
partially reflecting light off a piece of glass from a hidden room. This kind
of 3D projection technique only works well in convention halls or exhibition
spaces that are not too brightly lit by ambient sunlight; although 3D holograms
of some current controversial politicians are probably going to be frequently
used as a crutch to steer the public away from their one-dimensional nature.
