Are Holograms the New Reality?

I just read an article on The Hollywood Reporter  about Tupac's Resurrection at this year's Coachella Music Festival. I'm not a big rap fan, but last time I checked that rapper was dead. However thanks to the new technology in media, your favourite singer/actor can come back to life and  perform anything you want! The technology is quite simple to understand (if you're not me) but for Tupac's performance the crew used this technology called Pepper's Ghost, which apparently has been around since the 1500s! It's a 2D illusionary technique, so technically not a perfect hologram since holograms are 3D, but it has the same great "OMG" effect for fans.

According to THR, there is to be a Marilyn Monroe Virtual Live Concert before the end of the year. Of course there is a bunch of legal issues before this can happen, but once it passes, record labels can make any of their deceased (for lack of better word) performers come back from the grave and hold virtual live concerts! It think that it would be amazing for older generations to relive their favourite music moments but would it be a great experience for the young kids of today? The generation that is obsessed with the Justin Bieber, One Direction boys bands. Hmm, I wonder if Frank Sinatra would mind doing a duet with Carly Rae Jepsen? 

 Personally, I don't think that resurrecting entertainers to compete with the talent that we have today is such a great idea. First, once  you have the power to make an actor do anything you want, there are so many opportunities for exploiting and possibly ruining their well respected brand image. Second, the actors and actresses today have so much potential! It's probably hard enough during casting calls, now they're going to compete with the dead? Sure Marlon Brando is a great, great, fantastic Oscar-winner, but let's give Peter O'Toole a chance! (side joke: Peter O'Toole has been acting for over 80 years, with 8 Oscar nominations...it's a rough life) Third, I'm sure that holograms are going to be more realistic in the future, but how realistic will you feel when you know that the tears coming from the "hologram's" face was produced? Sure it would be easy to market the real but not real Marilyn in theaters given her famous star power already, but to what extent? Will she be programmed to answer pre-determined questions during interviews and walk down the red carpet alongside her colleagues? Well we'll have to see.  

Currently in Japan, this music company called Crypton Future Media has developed the next sensation in Japanese pop music. By using the voice of Japanese actress Saki Fujita, they are able to synthesize the voice of a holographic singer called Hatsune Miku. She is amazingly popular in Japan, with fans waving their glow sticks and singing along at her sold-out concerts. 

Is this going to be the future of our entertainment world? Synthesized smokes and mirrors? 

Here is a Dior commercial, starring Charlize Theron, Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe: 

JLT