Conference meetings, remote training and collaborative working will become more effective using hologram technologies and virtual reality
What used to be science fiction is becoming science fact, and a reality in maritime circles. Beaming someone’s hologram to people thousands of miles away is no longer a fantasy. It is not only possible but has been tested by a shipmanagement group in a corporate meeting. But this is just the start, as Silicon Valley technology companies are developing more advanced virtual reality-based meeting techniques.
Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM) tested hologram technology to highlight this innovation in January 2022.
CSM president and chief executive Mark O’Neil addressed an audience in Manila, the Philippines from the offices of OneLearn Global in Limassol, Cyprus, 8,900 km away.
He appeared as a life-size, 3D hologram, in 4K resolution to demonstrate the technology.
Mr O’Neil says, “The future is already here. The equipment we use is high tech, but very portable and takes the whole issue of speaker contributions to conferences or business meetings to a completely different level.”
Mr O’Neil could speak to, see and hear the people attending the event in the Nautilus Pacific Maritime Training Centre in Manila. They watched him standing life-sized within a 2.4-m, glass-fronted computerised box.
Mr O’Neil says this portal technology can be used to train crews remotely in real-time, replacing global travel with hologram-led international business meetings.
“A fleet director in one part of the world can mentor ships’ officers attending a conference in another,” Mr O’Neil says. “Customers and suppliers can have more intuitive and interactive meetings without having to step on a plane and fly thousands of miles to meet. This is tomorrow’s world happening today and we are delighted to be able to make it a reality.”
OneLearn Global senior advisor Nigel Cleave says digital e-leaning could involve holographic tutors running live courses audiences around the globe.
“This next-generation technology gives people the means to project themselves as life-size holograms when running live courses for mariners on shore or at sea,” he says.
“Holograms are the latest innovation in maritime training, which we are pioneering as part of our mission to revolutionise how shipping companies develop and upskill their crew members,” says Mr Cleave.
US-based PortL spent a year building a tailormade portal for CSM, which OneLearn provides e-learning for. Each portal has built-in speakers, through which the speaker’s voice can be heard. The cameras and microphones enable the person appearing as a hologram to see the audience.
“We are transforming remote learning for seafarers,” says Mr Cleave. “We are incredibly excited about pioneering a new age of maritime training.”
PortL is developing smaller, cheaper and more lightweight portals to enable different applications, perhaps even on board ships.
CSM group director for crewing and training Captain Faouzi Fradi says the equipment can be packaged in various sizes and transported between locations. “The technology is exciting, and we will be looking to implement it very soon in 2022,” says Capt Fradi.
“There is next to no latency or delay to the transmission and the hologram is so life-like you would think the person is actually in the room with you.” The technology would enable remote face-to-face meetings. “Using this technology, anyone who needs experts or senior management to attend meetings can have them beamed in,” says Capt Fradi.
CSM is working with Nautilus with its fully equipped simulator and training centre in Manila to deploy this hologram technology.
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