Collide Magazine

Hologram Killed the Video Star

Ben Arment - Originally posted Monday, December 8, 2008 -

I think it was Star Trek. Or it might have been Dr. Who. But the first time I saw hologram technology, I remember wishing they’d use it for basketball games. I couldn’t resist the idea of seeing a three-dimensional Michael Jordan dunk in my living room.

We’ve come a long way in hologram technology. Search for it on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean—life-like video of Kate Moss on a Paris runway, seven-story sea creatures coming out of the water in Tokyo. The technology is finally here.

But holograms in ministry?

As video venue churches continue to multiply, the need for authentic worship environments becomes a bigger issue. Video can accommodate more people in more places. But the farther away you get from its original environment, the more artificial the experience. The last thing you want is a church service that feels like a video overflow room. Watching a video of your pastor is one thing, but seeing him life-like on the stage is a whole other experience.

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The next revolution in church media just might have happened last year when Houston Clark, president of Clark Pro Media, got a phone call from Barco’s Peter Taylor about an interesting new technology in London.

A company called Musion developed a solution for projecting 3D images onto a nearly invisible surface. The company did it for Madonna and the animated band The Gorillaz at the 2006 Grammy Awards, and they did it for Prince Charles at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.

But even better, Musion created a solution that is comparable to the price of High-Definition video systems being used in many churches today.

Houston Clark had to see it for himself, so he and his brother, George, a partner in the company, traveled to England to meet with the Musion team. By their own admission, the images they saw were staggering.

The formula behind Musion’s hologram technology is a secret, but it’s based on an age-old magicians’ technique called “Pepper’s Ghost.” You can see this effect in most children’s science museums today. It’s where you project light onto both sides of a single pane of glass and dim them at varying levels to create one image.

If you were to walk onto a hologram set, you would see a translucent screen stretched from floor to ceiling at a 45-degree angle and a single, High-Definition projector positioned from either the ceiling or floor. It’s a simple technology that’s no longer exclusive to illusionists.

As the primary technology provider to North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA, Clark’s company helped pastor Andy Stanley appear in High-Definition video at each of North Point’s video venue locations. It was the closest thing to an original experience that North Point could achieve.

But Clark now believed hologram technology could take it to another level. Musion’s solution would make it appear as if Andy were actually standing onstage as a three-dimensional character, and they could do it for a cost that was comparable to their current High-Definition, IMAG solution.

To convince North Point of its merits, Clark Pro Media flew the church’s director of production, Micah Stevens, to London for a live demonstration. Clark told him the idea seemed so perfect that he wondered if he might be overlooking something.

The answer was no.

Meanwhile, Maximum Impact’s vice president, David Hoyt, had been working diligently to add England’s former prime minister Tony Blair to the simulcast leadership event that was started by John Maxwell eight years ago. But the world leader couldn’t be there in person.

Knowing that video wouldn’t do him justice, David had to find another solution. How could he get Tony Blair to appear onstage as if he were actually there?

David made a call to Clark who, by this time, was a full-blown evangelist for hologram technology. It took no time at all for Clark to solve Hoyt’s problem. At the time of this writing, Tony Blair is scheduled to appear by hologram at Maximum Impact’s simulcast event on May 8, 2009.

Clark has big dreams for hologram technology in ministry. He suggested three main applications in the church today:

• To project speakers onstage who are either too expensive or unavailable to appear in person.
• To project three-dimensional characters onstage for creative programming, such as having Moses appear in children’s ministry settings.
• To create dynamic background elements and stage decor without the cost and effort of using the actual items.

The impact of hologram technology on ministry remains to be seen, but pioneering churches are quickly grabbing hold of it. There’s no telling when we’ll actually get to see a basketball game projected in 3D, but until then, we’ll have to settle for one groundbreaking innovation at a time.

Ben Arment is the Director of Experience and Innovation for Catalyst in Atlanta, GA. He is a former church planter and a daily blogger at www.benarment.com.