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It’s not some kind of Blade Runner utopia, it’s actually 2023. And we’re here talking about the commercial use of holograms. Does it really get better than this? Digital signage embraced this new technology with open arms and gave it some teeth too. Over the last 5 years, we’ve seen great applications of holograms and we’re definitely going to see more soon. While it’s not yet in its momentum, holographic digital signage is rapidly getting there.
The meteoric rise of the holographic signage
What do Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Kimmel, and Chris Pratt have in common except being stars of the entertainment industry? They have recently undergone a holographic transformation for segments of their shows.
Here is the Jimmy Kimmel bit:
In it, Chris Pratt in order to promote a new Guardians of the Galaxy movie becomes a hologram. How it’s enabled? Through the screen, of course. That’s how digital signage becomes a significant part of Hollywood-level interaction.
But how it’s even possible? That’s a good question and it’s up to the hottest new American holographic company Proto to answer. They have inundated the talk shows across the country. Bloomberg even made a segment about the company in their Quicktake series:
And here’s their cool Media Reel:
So here we are, in a new era, where holographic digital signage is not only possible but is becoming a new normal for communications, retail, and TV. It looks amazing, it feels even better. Looking at the Proto’s work you can’t help but think how advanced it is, effortlessly.
The Chris Pratt segment showed the genuine surprise that the people had when seeing such holographic signage for the first time, interacting with it. That’s what this technology is all about. Bringing a direct response from the audience and offering a new level of engagement that we haven’t seen before.
While there were many attempts to bring holograms to life, the one offered by Proto is also remarkable because it’s not a standalone application of holograms. It’s not Tupac singing in a concert-kind-of-a-hologram. It’s actually a screen but with upgraded, better capabilities to engage. And we think that’s what holographic digital signage is really about. It’s bridging the capabilities of holographic technology with the well-known attention-grabbing features of the screens.
Retail embraces the holographic signage
There’s one industry that fell in love with holograms quicker than any other. We’re talking about retail. If you think about it, it’s in the physical space of the store that holograms can have the biggest effect on a consumer.
And the industry is definitely having a blast with this new exciting technology.
The previously mentioned Ellen DeGeneres bit featured the famous TV presented interacting with the visitors of her gift shop through the holographic signage.
It’s a great showcase of what holograms can do within the retail space. They bring freshness to the experience, they become the experience.
Hologram-driven stores of the future
Not surprisingly, a superb holographic signage project came from Proto again. It’s an H&M store in Williamsburg.
The store has been upgraded with ultra-realistic screens from Proto that feature the H&M Move campaign items and models that wore them. But H&M is hardly alone in this quest for a cooler fashion retail space. It gave the store a fresher look, a more engaging shopping experience, and an overall wow factor.
Adidas has been doing it too:
And Nike played with the hot new 3D billboard concept in Tokyo earlier this year:
Holographic retail is upon us and we’re more than ready to embrace it.
Holograms are all different and it’s fine
When we say “holographic digital signage” it’s not a single thing. As we’ve seen just in this article, holograms differ. It’s all about the creativity here.
While Proto is promoting screen-enabled kind of holograms, there are also AI and AR-enabled ones like Hypervsn’s digital avatars. Then there’s a separate type of hologram that is 3D and shown on gigantic screens.
Finally, there are physical holograms that look like they came straight out of a sci-fi movie like the ones employed by ABBA on their recent tour. Or this book-giving, weird-looking younger hologram Drake that scares people on social media.
We’re in an exciting moment of digital signage development. So it’s high time to embrace the change and think about how your business can implement the new technology.
