Some universities strive to use holograms in their teaching. Through this technology, the lecturer’s representative would have a physical presence in space. Even interactions and conversations would be possible if the holograms or projections were connected to speech systems. Dr. David Lefevre, director of Imperial’s Edtech Lab, told the BBC one year ago: „The alternative is to use video-conferencing software but we believe these holograms have a much greater sense of presence“. American Samoa Community College (ASCC) has now switched on a digital platform that will stream 3D holograms of University of Hawai’i faculty members to deliver classes and engage with ASCC students in real-time. According to the website, students at the HoloCampus launch on August 20 received a lecture by UH Mānoa Water Resources Research Center researcher Chris Shuler on the subject of „sustainability and resilience“ – a theme „with special significance for the people of American Samoa and Pacific Islands nations as they face challenges such as increasing plastic waste and more dramatic weather systems brought about by climate change“ (Website University of Hawai’i). Holograms could play a role in all sorts of areas, including social and sexual relationships.
The article „Hologram Girl“ by Oliver Bendel deals first of all with the current and future technical possibilities of projecting three-dimensional human shapes into space or into vessels. Then examples for holograms from literature and film are mentioned, from the fictionality of past and present. Furthermore, the reality of the present and the future of holograms is included, i.e. what technicians and scientists all over the world are trying to achieve, in eager efforts to close the enormous gap between the imagined and the actual. A very specific aspect is of interest here, namely the idea that holograms serve us as objects of desire, that they step alongside love dolls and sex robots and support us in some way. Different aspects of fictional and real holograms are analyzed, namely pictoriality, corporeality, motion, size, beauty and speech capacity. There are indications that three-dimensional human shapes could be considered as partners, albeit in a very specific sense. The genuine advantages and disadvantages need to be investigated further, and a theory of holograms in love could be developed. The article is part of the book „AI Love You“ by Yuefang Zhou and Martin H. Fischer and was published on 18 July 2019. Further information can be found via link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-19734-6.
The Gatebox was given to some persons and institutions in Japan some time ago. The company announced at the end of July 2018 that it is now going into series production. In fact, it is possible to order on the website the machine that resembles a coffee machine. The anime girl Azuma Hikari lives in a glass „coffee pot“. She is a hologram connected to a dialogue system and an AI system. She communicates with her owner even when he is out and about (by sending messages to his smartphone) and learns. SRF visited a young man who lives with the Gatebox. „I love my wife,“ Kondo Akihiko is quoted. The station writes: „He can’t hug or kiss her. The Japanese guy is with a hologram.“ (SRF) Anyone who thinks that the love for manga and anime girls is a purely Japanese phenomenon is mistaken. In Dortmund’s BorDoll (from „Bordell“ and „Doll“ or „Love Doll“) the corresponding love dolls are in high demand. Here, too, it is young men shy of real girls who have developed a desire in the tradition of Pygmalion. Akihiko Kondo dreams that one day he can go out into the world with Azuma Hikari and hold her hand. But it’s a long way to go, and the anime girl will still need her little prison for a long time.
Die Arbeiten am Kurzfilm „Ignarus“ (Hochschule der Medien, Director: Lutz Marquardt, Producer: Cornelius Herzog, VFX Producer: Nico Hoerz, DOP: Tatjana Huck) schreiten voran. Es wurden Bilder veröffentlicht, die die gestalterische Arbeit an der künstlichen Intelligenz Cara zeigen, die mit John, einem Wissenschaftler, in einem abgeschotteten Forschungsbunker festsitzt. Obwohl Cara nur ein Hologramm und ein Programm sei, verfüge sie über äußerst menschliche Züge und Charaktereigenschaften. Sie weiß „mit John umzugehen und ihn in einer cleveren Weise zu beeinflussen und zu lenken, wie es die Mission – und am Ende auch Cara – von ihm verlangt“ (Projektbeschreibung STUDIOPRODUKTION VFX SS18). „Mit diesem Verhalten schafft es Cara, sich John durch subtile Anstöße zum Werkzeug zu machen. Ihre Ziele und Absichten scheinen jedoch stets verborgen und so wirkt sie zum Teil unvorhersehbar und fast schon tückisch. Ihre Art lässt dadurch oft zweifeln, ob sie so programmiert wurde oder sich bereits eigene Eigenschaften angeeignet hat und eine unerwartete Art der Entwicklung durchläuft.“ (Projektbeschreibung STUDIOPRODUKTION VFX SS18) Der Film wird von maschinenethik.net unterstützt und feiert am 5. Juli 2018 bei der MediaNight seine Weltpremiere.
