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OneZero is a former publication from Medium about the impact of technology on people and the future. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

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Why I Won’t Clap for a Hologram

6 min readNov 29, 2018

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All images courtesy of Base Entertainment

Clapping can be weird, especially when we’re at the movies. Some people cheer for characters who fall in love, or jeer for villains who get their comeuppance. People often applaud when a movie ends and the credits roll, even though the cast and crew aren’t there to bask in the outpouring of love. We do this, despite knowing that the screen is a one-way form of communication, because it’s a joyful, fleeting moment of community and solidarity, a sense that we share something with the room.

So why would we clap for a performing hologram? As I was sat in the Jorgensen Center at the University of Connecticut waiting for a hologram of the deceased opera star Maria Callas to appear on stage, I was questioning how we interact with a virtual human, and how we might feel interacting with one in the form of someone who has died. To believe the program, you’d think the company behind this performance had created the second coming of Maria Callas.

When this “Holo-Callas” took the stage, it was light-years away from the danger zone of the uncanny valley. It had a strong physical likeness, and convincingly expressive gestures with realistic, graceful…

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OneZero
OneZero

Published in OneZero

OneZero is a former publication from Medium about the impact of technology on people and the future. Currently inactive and not taking submissions.

Evan Selinger
Evan Selinger

Written by Evan Selinger

Prof. Philosophy at RIT. Latest book: “Re-Engineering Humanity.” Bylines everywhere. http://eselinger.org/

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