Hologram Attractions!

[SkratchyTheWolf]

This past month, a music festival in California known as Coachella took place.
Whilst performing, Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre were joined on stage by an old friend known as Tupac Shakur.

Why is this significant you ask?
Because Tupac Shakur has been dead for the past 16 years.

So how was it possible?
After receiving permission from Tupac's mother, Dr. Dre spent $300k-400k on resurrecting a hologram of his fallen friend. This hologram was not only given the ability to walk about the stage but also perform songs Tupac had previously never before sung.

Video of Tupac's Hologram: (CAUTION: STRONG LANGUAGE)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGbrFmPBV0Y

Why is this significant to Disney?
With this technology available I believe the Disney company could create some mind-blowing cutting-edge attractions that could draw huge crowds if done correctly. Think of all the possibilities:
1. Remove Sounds Dangerous and input a stage on which Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hendrix, or even Michael Jackson could perform.
2. Remove Captain EO and instead have a Michael Jackson hologram perform for the audience!
3. Create a completely new attraction for this technology.
4. Create a hologram of Walt Disney himself (perhaps with Mickey?) that could be placed in Tomorrowland (perfect location imo) maybe even replace SGE.

I know this is highly unlikely to happen. But hearing this news from Coachella just really got me thinking about all the opportunities. Opinions? Comments?

 

[ScoutN]

Easier with Tupac. He's still alive. :lookaroun

 

[AswaySuller]

It wasn't a hologram...

It was essentially an updated pepper's ghost effect which is already showcased brilliantly in the haunted mansion.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Why is this significant to Disney?
With this technology available I believe the Disney company could create some mind-blowing cutting-edge attractions that could draw huge crowds if done correctly. Think of all the possibilities:

1. Remove Sounds Dangerous and input a stage on which Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Jimmy Hendrix, or even Michael Jackson could perform.

I'd rather talk to Yoda before I see anything else..

2. Remove Captain EO and instead have a Michael Jackson hologram perform for the audience!

I'd rather See Figment More than Him..*Shudders*

3. Create a completely new attraction for this technology.

I think the Legend of Jack Sparrow is doing this..

4. Create a hologram of Walt Disney himself (perhaps with Mickey?) that could be placed in Tomorrowland (perfect location imo) maybe even replace SGE.

I see no logic to this as to why it's in tommorowland as DHS Animation would utilize this better.

I know this is highly unlikely to happen. But hearing this news from Coachella just really got me thinking about all the opportunities. Opinions? Comments?

I think the other best example of this technology is/was used at Universal Studio Tokyo. Where they have a show featuring a live actor and an animated Woody Woodpecker wreaking havoc all around him..It's pretty much the same Pepper's Ghost effect but much more advance and the interactivity is perfect..Take A look see for yourself..
[youtube]3n8LGNjMBEY[/youtube]

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Is this the same technology used for the "Disaster" attraction at Universal Orlando? I have to say it was quite neat to see Christopher Walken on the stage in front of me walking in front and and behind props on the stage as well as interacting with the props and the live cast member.

 

[flynnibus]

Is this the same technology used for the "Disaster" attraction at Universal Orlando? I have to say it was quite neat to see Christopher Walken on the stage in front of me walking in front and and behind props on the stage as well as interacting with the props and the live cast member.

Yes.. and the same used in Forbidden Journey's queue..

It's not new.. its been used all over.

And it's not a hologram.. it's simply peppers ghost effect using projectors to create the image to reflect.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

Yes.. and the same used in Forbidden Journey's queue..

It's not new.. its been used all over.

And it's not a hologram.. it's simply peppers ghost effect using projectors to create the image to reflect.

Funny, I was less impressed with the effect in the FJ queue - seemed more like just looking at a screen to me when compared to Christopher Walkens character in Disaster. I guess just the level of interaction with him and the live person as well as the props made it stand out a little more.

It's really a great effect when done properly. However the first time seeing Disaster I was so busy analyzing how on earth Christoper Walken was on the stage in front of me that I didn't pay close attention to what he was saying. I just kept thinking, "Ok, he was behind that table and now he's in front of it so it can't be a screen...a reflection maybe...but what about the table?...maybe it's a hologram, I don;t know much about holograms...he's probably not a hologram or he would be more stationary...wouldn't he?...unless the table is a hologram...no...because the live guy just set a real book on the table and how did Christopher Walken throw that book to him...is the book in the air just a reflection? ...but it's a real book when he catches it, unless the book is propelled by something to simulate the image of Chrsitopher Walken throwing the book...but...." and then the pre-show was over and we moved into the other room. :lol:

 

[wilkeliza]

The problem with these kinds of "holograms" is when they are used with live actors or singers they must be highly choreographed. I'm shocked that Disaster works as seamless at it appears to.

When it was used to bring Tupac back to the stage it wasn't actually the first time or anything special it is just the first time it has gotten massive coverage. Madonna actually did the same thing a few years ago at the MTV music awards if I'm not mistaken. Since the MTV music awards are on t.v. most people just thought the images we were seeing at home were CGI but in fact they were the same technology used for Tupac.

The new technology that is much more advanced and could be used to bring dead people "back to life" is the video mapping technology used for Magic Memories and You. Samsung released a commercial where the technology is used on a human being and they are able to make the guy look like whoever they want. Now imagine that technology with a highly choreographed body and the time and money put into mapping everything. You could make a stage show where the person isn't a blurry version of someone who is dead or not there but a clean crisp HD version that lives and breaths and can be touched. I would assume the technology to combine the mapping with other tracking programs is out there it probably just isn't smooth enough yet.

 

[Bob Saget]

This past month, a music festival in California known as Coachella took place.
Whilst performing, Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre were joined on stage by an old friend known as Tupac Shakur.

Why is this significant you ask?
Because Tupac Shakur has been dead for the past 16 years.

So how was it possible?
After receiving permission from Tupac's mother, Dr. Dre spent $300k-400k on resurrecting a hologram of his fallen friend. This hologram was not only given the ability to walk about the stage but also perform songs Tupac had previously never before sung.

Video of Tupac's Hologram: (CAUTION: STRONG LANGUAGE)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGbrFmPBV0Y

Being a Disney traditionalist, I personally favor the audio animatronic over a hologram ANY day. However, this was put together very nicely, and the hologram was very believable to say the least. I can certainly see this becoming a castle-front production some day soon.

 

[Timekeeper]

Yes.. and the same used in Forbidden Journey's queue..

It's not new.. its been used all over.

And it's not a hologram.. it's simply peppers ghost effect using projectors to create the image to reflect.

Disaster uses Musion Eyeliner.

Here it is in a live performance concert setup:

The idea itself is nothing new. Classic arcade games often implement a setup in which the viewer saw images from a television tube reflected off a mirror to add depth.

Like an arcade game, even Mission Space guests are viewing a reflected image, instead of the screen of the monitor directly (in the image below, you can see the source image above the mirror)

And contrary to popular reports, Forbidden Journey's queue does not implement the same setup as that used in Disaster. It's much more akin to the projection in Pirates.

Regardless, all of these "holograms" are actually 2-dimensional reflections. And for that reason, there is some debate within the technological community over the inappropriate use of the term "hologram." Haunted Mansion remains one of the best executions of reflections (albeit Pepper's Ghost) because the source of the "images" exist in 3-dimension space, rather than projected, 2-dimensional images.

Disaster is executed so well because - as a permanent installation - there are visual elements that combine both the real life (3-dimension) set with the projected (2-dimensional) image. For example, there is a bulletin board in the set, and some (but not all) of the papers posted on the board are actually part of the projection. Because of that "overlap," the end result is much more convincing than, say, a live concert performance.

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

And contrary to popular reports, Forbidden Journey's queue does not implement the same setup as that used in Disaster. It's much more akin to the projection in Pirates.

Disaster is executed so well because - as a permanent installation - there are visual elements that combine both the real life (3-dimension) set with the projected (2-dimensional) image. For example, there is a bulletin board in the set, and some (but not all) of the papers posted on the board are actually part of the projection. Because of that "overlap," the end result is much more convincing than, say, a live concert performance.

Thank you for the explaination. This also explains why FJ didn't nearly make the impression on me that Disaster did. I noticed the bulletin board and there seem to be other items in the locker, the trunk, maybe even the sofa that are part real-life, part projected image.

Very well done...worth a visit just for that pre-show.

 

[flynnibus]

Disaster uses Musion Eyeliner.

Yes I know... And that's what it is. It's basically a Mylar screen that replaces the glass and a projector replaces the light reflecting off objects. It's been done for 5+ years.

The disaster version works well because of the layering and interactivity. Fj doesn't use those elements and just has a static background.

 

[Timekeeper]

The disaster version works well because of the layering and interactivity. Fj doesn't use those elements and just has a static background.

It doesn't use the traditional musion setup at all. It uses direct (rear) projections.

 

[AEfx]

It wasn't a hologram...

It was essentially an updated pepper's ghost effect which is already showcased brilliantly in the haunted mansion.

Yes, it's the same thing they did with Madonna and that virtual band a few years back (she performed on an awards show with...I can't think of the name at the moment). It was all hyped, but basically - it was just a projection. The projection technology is good enough that dimensionality can be seen a bit in the animation, but no more so to be called "remarkable", IMO.

Same as when CNN did the Holograms one of those election nights. You had a commentator/celebrity standing in a booth with like 20 cameras all around them, and the image was put out to television with them standing in another room (the CNN Newsroom, in that case). Such a big deal - about nothing really - the hologram wasn't live in the studio, it was just a composite of the person in the booth over the image from the studio. Hollywood has been doing that in one way or another since Walt's time.

An image that projects in front of you that you can walk 360 degrees around it without distortion, now that's a hologram...and we just don't have them quite yet (but I've seen some promising tech lately, hopefully in the next few decades).

 

[Bairstow]

Yes, it's the same thing they did with Madonna and that virtual band a few years back (she performed on an awards show with...I can't think of the name at the moment). It was all hyped, but basically - it was just a projection. The projection technology is good enough that dimensionality can be seen a bit in the animation, but no more so to be called "remarkable", IMO.

Same as when CNN did the Holograms one of those election nights. You had a commentator/celebrity standing in a booth with like 20 cameras all around them, and the image was put out to television with them standing in another room (the CNN Newsroom, in that case). Such a big deal - about nothing really - the hologram wasn't live in the studio, it was just a composite of the person in the booth over the image from the studio. Hollywood has been doing that in one way or another since Walt's time.

An image that projects in front of you that you can walk 360 degrees around it without distortion, now that's a hologram...and we just don't have them quite yet (but I've seen some promising tech lately, hopefully in the next few decades).

Yep. The Madonna/Gorillaz performance is my favorite use of Musion Eyeliners so far. In terms of execution, it was actually a lot more advanced than the recent Tupac thing due to how you had Madonna convincingly walking in front of, then behind one of the Gorillaz characters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlKqu322eJc

CNN's use of the word "hologram" was even more objectionably inappropriate and the effect, quite honestly, looked horrible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOxW19vsTg


The most remarkable thing about the Musion Eyeliner is how everyone seems to forget the technology exists about every two years, and when something otherwise unremarkable, like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI
...happens, everyone gets excited like it's something new.

 

[Timekeeper]

Yep. The Madonna/Gorillaz performance is my favorite use of Musion Eyeliners so far. In terms of execution, it was actually a lot more advanced than the recent Tupac thing due to how you had Madonna convincingly walking in front of, then behind one of the Gorillaz characters

It looks like Madonna was actually part of the pre-recorded video in the portion in the beginning displaying both Madonna and Gorillaz simultaneously. It would have been easy to edit her walking in front of/behind the animated characters.

 

[marni1971]

So basically...

Don't believe the hype!

 

[Bairstow]

It looks like Madonna was actually part of the pre-recorded video in the portion in the beginning displaying both Madonna and Gorillaz simultaneously. It would have been easy to edit her walking in front of/behind the animated characters.

I bet you're right!
If you watch the whole performance, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_gnMOom7kE&feature=related
...there are live-action rappers who come down from the Gorillaz stage, but never in a way that would require them to move in or around the foil like Madonna appears to, which introduces the idea to the audience of live actors on the righthand stage. Plus, when the Gorillaz appear on stage it's in impossibly cartoony ways, but Madonna comes up as if by a trap door, which is more believable. Combined with the editing, or even just with darkness on the other stage, the overall effect is much more convincing.

 

[Timekeeper]

I bet you're right!
If you watch the whole performance, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_gnMOom7kE&feature=related
...there are live-action rappers who come down from the Gorillaz stage, but never in a way that would require them to move in or around the foil like Madonna appears to, which introduces the idea to the audience of live actors on the righthand stage. Plus, when the Gorillaz appear on stage it's in impossibly cartoony ways, but Madonna comes up as if by a trap door, which is more believable. Combined with the editing, or even just with darkness on the other stage, the overall effect is much more convincing.

Exactly.

It's a great effect, but the "give away" is in how they (video production) lit Madonna when filming her pre-recorded performance (with Gorillaz). In order to see her clearly, there needed to be bright, evenly spread, direct lighting on her (she was probably recorded against a greenscreen or similar background). The trade-off in lighting her so vibrantly is that it looks fake when presented as Musion. Lower lighting quality, on the other hand, may have looked more realistic. Just think of all those tv commercials that incorporate advanced special effects into video footage that is intended to look like it was filmed with a camcorder or cellphone. It's almost 'more' convincing. For example, the effects in the movie District 9, incorporated into what is intended to look like found news crew footage, seems almost more realistic than something out of Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.

Returning to the topic of Disaster (the attraction at Universal Studios, not the blue hat at Hollywood Studios), the set is kept quite dark, with very low contrast lighting. The Musion looks wonderful, although the technology will never be "perfect" since it requires a projected video image (and therefore a projected light source), versus most objects in the real world which do not give off light, but rather reflects light. Similarly, a photo on a computer monitor will never look the same as a photo printed on paper. The monitor is a light source, the paper is not, etc.

 

[Rob562]

The most remarkable thing about the Musion Eyeliner is how everyone seems to forget the technology exists about every two years, and when something otherwise unremarkable, like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTXO7KGHtjI
...happens, everyone gets excited like it's something new.

That wasn't even the same effect. It's just a rear-projection onto a screen of some sort. You can see the projectors immediately behind it, and you get a flash of colored light in your eyes every time a part of the projection falls in a direct line between you and the projector, just like the Fantasmic rear-projectors. (It also didn't help that there was a lot of haze in the air, making the beams from the projectors visible, too)

-Rob