Holographic Horizon: How a New Wave of Communication Could Impact Sport and Entertainment 🥊
From facilitating interactions between students and esteemed guest lecturers to enhancing fans' access to their beloved celebrities, the applications of hologram tech could have a profound impact...
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BIG IDEA
Ahead of his charity boxing bout with South Korean DK Yoo, boxing legend Manny Pacquiao famously beamed into the press conference, a scene which looked closer to something out of a science fiction movie than typical sports news programming.
In actuality, the legendary Fillipino fighter was using Proto’s hologram technology to make his appearance in Los Angeles, despite being physically located in Seoul at the time.
The same hologram technology has also been used by Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton to appear at a promotional campaign in the US, by the Anaheim Ducks’ draft pick Leo Carlsson to appear ‘live’ in California from the NHL Draft in Nashville, and by England rugby players when surprising school children with a virtual PE lesson.
In many ways, it embodies a potential for a new future for communication.
At least, that is the belief of Cartan Capital’s CiCi Bellis, who has invested $250,000 in the company, making them her first investment as a solo General Partner.
“We fit them into our thesis with the thought process that they have a lot of applications within sport, fan engagement solutions, and stadium solutions," explained Bellis when speaking recently on the Sports Pundit Podcast.
“It's definitely a new wave of communication,” Bellis continued. “[It’s] kind of the next level after the Zoom/ Skype era.”
While not quite at the Star Wars depiction of a hologram (yet), Proto’s video technology projects a realistic-looking, three-dimensional image onto a seven-foot tall screen. These life-sized holograms include shadows which give the impression that the person is actually present.
The use cases hold promise for a myriad of industries, including retail, advertising, and education.
Loughborough University, for instance, plan to use it to bring in sports scientists over from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as to teach fashion students how to create immersive shows.
Similarly, retail brands are using the technology within stores to serve customers with lifelike holographic displays of products, as well as to beam in celebrity ambassadors to their stores.
“They just signed a couple of deals with Walmart [and] Target to better market their products in store,” explained Bellis.
“On the live events side, celebrities are able to beam into these devices [and therefore do] not have to travel to make appearances,” she continued. Like with the Pacquiao press conference, “it can be a live feed coming from this hologram box.”
For athletes and brands, this is saving them time, simplifying logistics, and reducing costs. Meanwhile, for fans, it provides a new level of access that would otherwise simply not be possible or scalable.
Looking ahead, these possibilities get even more exciting.
Founded by ABBA singer Bjorn Ulvaeus, Pophouse Entertainment Group have already started to prove the demand for virtual physical entertainment with their avatar shows.
As of November, they had sold 2,000,000 tickets to their shows in London.
It’s been such a hit (no pun intended) that Pophouse are now exploring opportunities to expand the concept with others, including American rock band KISS and pop icon Cyndi Lauper.
While not strictly hologram technology, their revolutionary VR technique brings the former ABBA members to life through motion capture technology. It is then able to broadcast the pre-recorded show to adoring fans at a concert venue in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
It makes you wonder… Could similar be achieved for historic sporting fixtures?
And further down the line, could technology like Proto’s, which enables a live feed, even redefine how fans experience live sporting events?
Imagine a football match, basketball game, or boxing bout transmitted as a live holographic projection into stadiums around the world.
Suddenly, the NFL wouldn’t need to settle with making only one trip over the pond to London, Munich, and Madrid. Instead, matches could be broadcast into the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Allianz Arena, or Santiago Bernabéu on a weekly basis.
Gone too would be the debate around the Premier League introducing a 39th game.
For this to happen, the technology would obviously need to evolve well beyond the current seven-foot-tall screen.
But who’s to say the technology can’t, or won’t, one day develop to that level?
As Proto Hologram and others continue to innovate, fuelled by backing from the likes of Cartan Capital and buoyed by the apparent demand, it surely becomes a greater possibility.
By facilitating interactions between students and esteemed guest lecturers as well as enhancing fans' access to their beloved celebrities, the applications of hologram technology is already having a profound impact inside and outside the sports and entertainment industry.
All that is left to be determined is just how profound the impact will become in the years ahead…
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THE PODCAST
Want to hear more from my conversation with CiCi?
We discuss her early professional tennis career, developing an interest in venture capital, the opportunity in the wearables space, Cartan Capital’s investment into Proto Hologram, finding a silver lining to her first-hand experiences in rehab and recovery, and the MASSIVE opportunity to invest into Femtech.
Listen to the full podcast via the link below - and I’d love to hear what you think!👇
The Sports Pundit Social Club (SPSC) was designed to enable you to hang out with other readers (i.e. exceptional folk from across the industry) without the heavy cost that often goes with traditional sports industry events 👇
Keep an eye out for the next round of events here…
JOB BOARD
Senior Insights Manager - England Rugby (London, UK)
Partnership Services Manager - Newcastle United (Newcastle, UK)
Associate Partnerships Director (US) - Manchester United (Manchester, UK)
Manager, Partnership Marketing - Major League Soccer (New York, US)
Digital Product Manager - TMRW Sports (Florida, US)
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