Loughborough emerges as the inaugural UK university to investigate holographic technology for live-streaming guest lecturers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The university will employ Proto’s holographic apparatus to present the holographic images in the lecture hall. Following a year-long trial, the hologram technology will be formally integrated into the university’s curriculum in 2025.
In recent years, breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence and innovation have consistently set new records. While hologram technology has long been a staple in the entertainment industry, it is now poised to revolutionize academia. Traditional classroom lectures and Zoom calls are becoming a thing of the past for a UK University, as it prepares to showcase guest lessons from professors worldwide. Pioneering hologram technology is already being leveraged by some universities to bring iconic figures such as Michael Jackson and Albert Einstein into the classroom.
Reported by The Guardian, Loughborough University in Leicestershire, UK, leads as the first in Europe to embrace holographic technology. The university has initiated the use of holographic tech to stream live guest lectures from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). These specialized lecturers in sports science will instruct fashion students on crafting immersive shows. Furthermore, they will guide management studies students on handling intricate business scenarios.
Professor Vikki Locke, the Director of Undergraduate Studies at Loughborough, expressed that students have a strong affinity for the technology. She elaborated that Zoom calls created a sense of watching TV, introducing a distance. In contrast, a holographic image is more engaging and real to students. Consequently, they favor a guest speaker from the industry beaming into the classroom over a two-dimensional person on the wall.
Following a year of trials, the technology is set to be officially integrated into the university’s curriculum in 2025. Los Angeles-based company Proto will be responsible for projecting holographic figures into the classroom. Proto, known for its box-based holographic units used by IBM and BT to minimize corporate travel, also collaborates with the fashion retailer H&M in Sweden for interactive product displays.
David Nussbaum, who founded Porto four years ago, initiated the company after working on holograms featuring deceased celebrities. Currently, his vision involves leveraging AI to resurrect some of history’s greatest minds.
In a statement to The Guardian, David Nussbaum remarked, “Proto has the technology to project an image of Stephen Hawking, or anybody, and make it look like he’s really there. An AI Stephen Hawking would look like him, sound like him, and interact like it was him. It’s awe-inspiring, it’s jaw-dropping, and I’ve been in shock at how amazing the interactions are. AI is part of our life, whether people like it or not.”
Nussbaum’s firm ambition is to democratize hologram technology, making it more feasible and accessible to the general public. He emphasized, “You shouldn’t have to be an eccentric millionaire or a celebrity to have a hologram.”
Professor Rachel Thomson, Loughborough University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor, highlighted that the hologram avatars strategy could contribute to the university’s sustainability goals. Instead of flying in guest lecturers across the Atlantic Ocean, the concept of beaming in guest lectures is perceived as a more feasible and eco-friendly approach.
