Meetings + Events

Interactive holograms coming to an event near you! 

By Sandra Eagle

If you’re of a certain vintage like myself, it’s possible that your only brush with holograms is Princess Leia’s famous “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi” plea from the first Star Wars movie.

What was once an over-the-top expensive movie gambit, could now be coming to an event near you, as advances in technology and equipment, and lowering costs, bring these big-screen effects into a budgetary range for planners. 

Robert Thompson, vice-president of sales at Toronto-based AV-CANADA, says interactive holograms can be used on-stage allowing audience members to interact with a master of ceremonies host or keynote speaker in real time. The 2017 Canadian Event Industry Awards gala used the technology with great success with host Ben Mulroney. “We have used holograms in a trade-show situation where clients could show a new product with a 360 degree view, or wanted a rotating hologram of their logo,” says Thompson.

Thompson says planners can find something in almost every range to incorporate different interactive technological experiences within their events. A small-scale example could be throwable microphones in a training session or seminar. Mid-range could include web-based interactive voting systems or doing a Q & A within a presentation. Higher range includes video-mapping and holographic treatments. “Getting the audience to feel through their senses helps to drive home the messages planners are trying to convey in their programs,” says Thompson.