- Artificial intelligence-powered technology that projects realistic avatars has been trialled at Loughborough University.
- In addition to being used when guests are invited to lectures, these holograms will also be able to enable deceased famous people to give lectures on the subjects they are experts in.
- This technology will be a much better alternative to Zoom calls, which can make students feel like they are watching television.
Artificial intelligence-powered technology that projects realistic avatars has been trialled at Loughborough University.
Students may soon be taking a physics course from Albert Einstein or a design lesson from Coco Chanel, as some universities have begun beaming guest lecturers from around the world using holographic technology, which has been used to bring deceased or retired singers back to the stage it could be.
Loughborough University, the first university in Europe to explore the technology, plans to use the technology by bringing in sports scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to teach fashion students how to create immersive shows and test business students on how to navigate difficult business situations.
Professor Vikki Locke, director of undergraduate studies at Loughborough business school, said students were absolutely loving the technology and were begging to take selfies with the device.
Zoom calls can make students feel like they are watching television. A holographic image is much more interesting and real to them. This technology is planned to be officially introduced into the curriculum in 2025 after a one-year trial.
The box-based holographic units are sold by Los Angeles-based Proto, whose customers include companies such as BT and IBM. It is used in meetings to reduce the need for corporate travel. Proto is also working with fashion retailer H&M in Stockholm to create interactive product displays.
David Nussbaum, who founded Proto four years ago after working on holograms of celebrities who are no longer alive, said his company could soon bring some of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century to life. Nussbaum: “Proto has the technology to project the image of Stephen Hawking, or anyone else, and make it look like they’re really there. We can connect it to books, lectures, social media, anything it is connected to, any question, any interaction with it. “An AI Stephen Hawking would look like him, sound like him, and interact like him.”
Gary Burnett, professor of digital creativity at Loughborough University, said: “Different immersive technologies and artificial intelligence are new forms of literacy. Students need to understand what it means to use them, to be in these worlds, to experience them, to interact. “These are all things they will need for their future careers.”
The university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Rachel Thomson, said technology could help the university deliver on its sustainability strategy by reducing the need for guest speakers, facilitating international research collaborations and reducing the amount of materials used by students building prototypes in engineering, design and creative arts.
It can also allow a lecturer to demonstrate complex equipment, such as an engine, more easily over a video call.
Nussbaum said businesses and large institutions such as universities are the first step in his firm’s plan. But he added that within the next 18 months he hopes to introduce smaller units, priced under $1,000, that will beam down a scaled-down image that he likens to “Wonkavision” in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
He also states that the ability to create an avatar that resembles anyone in the world, thanks to the artificial intelligence capabilities of the technology, may lead to legal difficulties.
Compiled by: Esin Özcan
