When Tupac was resurrected as a 3D hologram stage partner for Snoop Dogg at this past Coachella, it was one of the most buzzed-about event to hit social media this year. We’ve argued the appropriate-ness of this concept — whether it was awful or actually cool to bring back the dead via hologram. If you prefer your hologram to still be a living and breathing person, why not make that hologram you? Usher does.
The R&B singer is recruiting a team of digital backup dancers to join him as holograms that will be broadcast live on the Internet. The June 11 show is set to take place in Hammersmith Apollo in London. “Literally, people will be able to create their own avatar and have it dance on the screen with Usher,” show director Hamish Hamilton told The New York Times.
Of course, such technology is a bigger price to pay than actually hiring a professional dance crew, but you could be the next digital hologram to appear on stage for the world to see and that’s something rarely encouraged on a live concert stream. We’re guessing you probably don’t need that much dancing skills either, as the avatars will likely base themselves off your facial features and the computer will control the choreography to ensure all avatars are dancing in sync.
While Hamilton did not elaborate how fans can create an avatar hologram, he did say many social media aspects will be incorporated into the performance. As you watch from the Web, the show will include live tweets from the audience as well as real-time camera feed from the show director’s booth. Fans’ dancing avatars will be created by Moment Factory, a multimedia company based in Montreal. Though not all logistics are smoothed out yet, Hamilton is confident the process will be a successful way to truly interact live with fans from home.
“I ain’t David Lynch, I ain’t Gary Oldman, and I’m quite aware of that,” Hamilton said. “But I bring something different. I bring a cutting-edge technological experience and an enthusiasm and a passion to take things to the next level.”
The fan holograms are set to come out during Usher’s song “Scream,” and the concert will air via the singer’s Youtube.com/UsherVEVO page. As part of the American Express Unstaged series, you can catch the show’s live stream on June 11 at 4 p.m. Eastern time. Previous artists who have appeared on the Unstaged series include Coldplay, Mary J. Blige, John Legend and the Roots, and Jack White.
Image Credit: Frederick Breedon/Getty Images
