We’ve heard a lot about telehealth during the pandemic – but what about holo-health?
Yes, soon your doctor may be able to holographically beam themselves into your home after successful tests of “holoportation” from Earth to the International Space Station.
Using Microsoft HoloLens technology, NASA flight surgeon Dr Josef Schmid (pictured), industry partner AEXA Aerospace CEO Fernando De La Pena Llaca, and their teams were able to appear as holographic 3D models right in the middle of the ISS.
According to Dr Schmid, this is a completely new method of two-way communication over long distances – humans on Earth could holoport to space for things like family visits, psychiatric and medical appointments, and VIP tours.
“It is a brand-new way of human exploration, where our human entity is able to travel off the planet. Our physical body is not there, but our human entity absolutely is there.
“It doesn’t matter that the space station is traveling 17,500 mph and in constant motion in orbit 250 miles above Earth, the astronaut can come back three minutes or three weeks later and with the system running, we will be there in that spot, live on the space station,” said Dr Schmid.
It’s not just useful for space, either: the applications for places like Antarctic research stations and offshore oil rigs are obvious, and eventually the technology may be common enough to finally give us the holographic phone calls science fiction has been promising for ages.
Hey, speaking of which, do you think our bosses will let us holoport into work? We’d love to cut down on the commute…
