In Between Machine & Nature.

The history of hologram goes way back in the 1940s. When it was first introduced by a British scientist, Dennis Gabor in 1947 it was only a mere theory of light and electron. Hologram is a term coined from the greek word holos meaning “whole” and gamma, meaning “message”

The theory later on went on to be developed in the industrialized country because they have the mean of access. Countries such as Russia, United States of America and of course the Great Britian recognized the significant impact to what the theory of hologram could bring.

When we first set eye on a hologram, it was most often seen in television. Most of us were introduced of hologram when we play video games or watch a sci-fi, mecha kind of movie genre. But as years progressed on, hologram is now used in multiple ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qym11JnFQBM

The video above shows what hologram can do and how it has affected the business industry. Microsoft introduced the HoloLens in January. The difference between the HoloLense and Google Glass is that the device projects 3D ‘hologram’ images of virtual objects. In the video you can see the lens are being used in term of art, architecture, business and more. So did Microsoft bring forth a new game plan in the technology industry? Maybe yes, maybe no. The difference it has proved is that the lens main function is the augmented reality instead of virtual reality.

According to an article from smartcompany.com, the lens are argued to bring a bigger advantage than imagined especially to consumers. “The real killer app for holograms is in navigation. Instead of constantly looking down at your phone, your headset can display a series of arrows to where you need to go. The same could be said for instructional videos.”

“Then there’s a host of potential in terms of teleconferencing. For example, you could have a ‘hologram’ of a co-worker in another city able to sit in on a business meeting. Or you could virtually attend a conference overseas just by putting on a VR headset.”

So how far has hologram reached? A handful of companies are now creating holographic and augmented reality technologies to engage consumers in a more personalized ways. Now that holograms may have been used to resurrect dead musicians like Tupac and Michael Jackson, companies like Ford, Disney, and Guess have used it to promote new products. eBay recently bought PhiSix, a company that develops 3-D models of clothing for virtual dressing rooms.

When we talk about technology, we can never neglect the country Japan. She is very well known for producing new technology based on their bizarre subculture. Hologram is being used in Japan in terms of art especially music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu-2FZiDMvM

A face hacking project by a collectivistic artist called Omote uses a face-mapping program to create a masterpiece. In the video, two men sat side by side as a series of intricate virtual masks are projected onto their faces. The men appear with leopard masks, blue skin, robotic features, and even a woman's made-up face. The masks track facial features in motion, too, so they stay in place even as the men move their heads and blink.

I could go on and on about new technology that uses hologram to either satisfy new types of consumer or brings out the best of every company. But will hologram replace human being? Will there be a new figure or a robot sitting behind a counter taking our orders instead of an emphatic human? Now that most travel and ticketing agency has replaced human work power with a machine, there is a possibility that hologram will be the next traffic regulator.

Speaking of replacing human, in Japan, this is already a reality for one of its biggest music personalities, Hatsune Miku. She’s the first million-selling android idol – and the first open-source one, too. Her admirers write her songs and style her looks. The most popular of these make it into her live shows. Let me reiterate the sentence again.

Her admirer WRITES her song and STYLES her looks.

Thus, handing the consumer power and control over their wants and needs. Miku was created in 2007 as the distinct avatar of voice synthesiser Vocaloid, software anyone can buy and use to make Miku music.

The producer of Miku, Wataru Sasaki explains: “It’s a very organic [project] and it grows through the internet. Once her songs are in the users hands, it’s not for us to control. It’s the users that make the music and once it’s theirs, it’s theirs. That’s what Hatsune Miku is; it’s not just the person, or the animation, but it’s about the internet community and their creativeness.” According to the guardian.com

There is no defying what hologram can do now. We have seen how it approached from every angle and available industry may it be business or art or science. Though it exist to fulfill our basic need and diminished nuisances, will we actually be too dependent on it?

According to Heap (1995) the theory of technological determinism holds that technology is the prime force in initiating social change, and that the introduction of new technology fundamentally shifts work activities, resulting in transformations of individuals and their social interactions as well as the organizations in which they work.

From where we stand today, the theory applies to our everyday life cycle. Machines and cyborg are created to ease of manufacturing product and also replacing human work force. But what exactly does it mean to be human in a world where the differences between man and machine become more philosophical than physical?

Reff list

Heap N , Thomas R , Einon G , Mason R , Mackay H , editors.Information Technology and Society Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications ; 1995

By Aimi Hafiza