The Medical Board of California makes a huge production of its "public outreach" quarterly meetings. They travel to a different California city, stay one or two nights in a high-end hotel, where they rent a conference room, and presumably have meals and other expenses paid by the State. Usually, about 10 board members and 10 staff members attend these meetings, so they are sending 20 people, and that doesn't come cheap, especially for an organization that constantly whines that it doesn't have enough money to do its job.
Still, that could be worth it if they used that time to engage with the public, take their input, organize it, learn from it, and then use it to provide better services to the citizens of California. Unfortunately, as anyone who has experience with the MBC knows, that never happens. Worse, no one shows up at the meetings anyway. The one they had in August in San Diego only had five or six people attending; the one in the Central Valley earlier in the year had zero. That's a lot of public money to address an empty room.
Since they only passively "take public comments" and never engage with the public, it occurred to me they might as well be holographic projections. Then I wondered if the technology existed, and it turns out it does - sort of. It's a little pricy, and the projections would all have to be crammed into a 10X10 box but they could see the public participants, listen to them, and passively not talk - all from the comfort of their office in Sacramento, or wherever they are located. I had an AI ( I forget which one) run an analysis and this is what it came up with:
Real-World Holographic Meeting Technology
1. Booth-Based Volumetric Holograms
- **Google’s Project Starline / Google Beam**: A booth using light-field displays, depth sensors, and cameras to recreate life-like 3D representations of people, allowing users to gesture and make eye contact almost as if they’re in the same room. As of 2025, it’s available only in select Google offices, though an HP-branded commercial unit (HP Dimension) is expected to launch around 2025 at a high price point (~$25,000).
2. Portable Hologram Pods and Booths
- **Proto’s Holoportation Devices**: Known as “The Epic” (full-size) and “The M” (tabletop), they provide lifelike 3D holograms with AI-enhanced capture. Used in education, retail, and live events.
- **Holoconnects’ Holobox**: A booth unveiled at SXSW 2024 that lets an individual appear in up to 100 locations via life-size, near-real-time holograms without lag — used by brands like Nike and BMW.
3. Academic and Institutional Use
- **Loughborough University (UK)**: Utilizing Proto’s technology, they beam guest lecturers into classrooms as holograms. Students are more engaged compared to traditional video calls, and the school plans formal integration by 2025 — with smaller, sub-$1,000 units expected in the near future.
4. Corporate and Event Installations
- **DVE**, **Axiom Holographics**, **ARHT Media**: Offer immersive holographic telepresence solutions such as Holo Podium and collaboration “stage” systems. Some companies integrate mobile-generated holograms using only selfie cameras and generative AI.
- **HYPERVSN**: Provides 3D holographic display systems for events and advertising — think floating visuals and digital avatars.
### 5\. Research & Mixed Reality Tools
- **Microsoft’s Holoportation**: A research project allowing real-time 3D capture and transmission into AR or VR environments (e.g., HoloLens). Its mixed reality platform, Microsoft Mesh, includes holographic interactions.
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## What It Means for Your Political Point
You absolutely *can* argue that holographic meetings are no longer mere science fiction — they are tangible today, though not widespread or affordable for everyone.
- **Existence**: There are working systems delivering real-time 3D holographic communication.
- **Limitations**: Most solutions are expensive, bulky booths or studio installs (e.g., Starline, Holobox, Proto units).
- **Accessibility Trend**: Still high-end, but scaling down — Loughborough hopes to deploy sub-$1,000 units soon.
So if you're making the political point that the *technology is here*, you’re correct. But it's also important to highlight that while the capability exists, **widespread, affordable, ordinary use is still on the horizon**, with adoption currently concentrated in corporate, academic, or high-profile settings.
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### Quick Snapshot
| Technology Type | Examples | Current Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Booth-based hologram systems | Google Starline, HP Dimension | Functional but expensive & limited rollout |
| Portable displays/pods | Proto, Holobox | Real-time, immersive, still niche |
| Institutional implementations | Loughborough University | Classroom use — broad deployment expected |
| Corporate/event platforms | DVE, Axiom, ARHT, HYPERVSN | Available for production/installations |
| AR/Computer vision research | Microsoft Mesh / Holoportation | Promising, mainly for MR/VR headset use |
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**Takeaway (forward-looking)**: Holographic meetings *are real today* — but they're just beginning to break into more scalable and affordable formats. Perfect for illustrating a point about how fast our tech is advancing, while still acknowledging it's not yet ubiquitous.
Let me know if you want to explore any specific system in detail — cost breakdown, effectiveness, or logistical feasibility for different contexts.
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Short answer: yes—there’s a **plausible, low-cost “hologram” setup** a single tech can roll in, assemble in ~an hour, and run for a public meeting. The trick is to use the same stage illusion people call “holograms” at concerts (Pepper’s Ghost) with a bright projector and a transparent mesh. It looks life-size and 3-D to the audience, but costs a tiny fraction of flying 13 people every quarter.
## The cheapest plausible setup (my “one-tech kit”)
**What the audience sees:** a life-size, standing board member “present” on stage.
**What you need on site:**
- **Bright laser projector (5,000–6,200 lm)** to throw a crisp image, even under room lights. Current UST/short-throw models are ~$1.5k–$6k (examples and pricing pages: Epson PowerLite L630U ~6,200 lm; Hisense L9Q 5,000 lm).
- **Transparent hologauze/foil (Pepper’s Ghost screen)** mounted at ~45°. Material is widely sold for **$85–$120/m²**; even a ~3×2 m (6 m²) pane is only hundreds of dollars.
- **Laptop with free software**: OBS Studio + **free background-removal** plugin (no greenscreen needed) + **free NDI Tools** to route clean, latency-low video from Zoom/Rooms or other sources.
- **Connectivity fallback** (optional but smart): **Starlink Roam** so public comment doesn’t die with bad venue Wi-Fi; **plans start at $50–$165/mo** (portable kit listed on Starlink).
- Venue PA mics for the room (usually already present).
> This is the same illusion that powered the famous “Tupac hologram”; it isn’t a true hologram, but audiences perceive it as one—and it’s proven, robust and portable.
## Why this is cost-credible
- **Hardware outlay** (buy once): projector ($1.5k–$6k) + mesh ($500–$1.5k, size-dependent) + stands/case + laptop/software (OBS/NDI are free) → **often under a single year’s travel budget**.
- **Rental alternative** (more expensive, still feasible): turnkey “holo-booths” like **Holoconnects Holobox** rent at **€2,500 for a single day** (+ optional staff/transport), which is *already* competitive with flying a dozen people. (High-end capsules like ARHT often run ~$25k/day—overkill for public comment.)
- **Travel comparator for a CA agency:** GSA 2025 lodging per-diems in cities like **San Diego are ~$199/night**, M&IE **$68/day**, and **average one-way domestic fares** hover around **$400** (varies by city). One overnight trip can easily exceed **$650 per person**; ×13 people ×4 meetings ≈ **$33k+/year** without counting ground, staff time, or lost productivity.
## How a single tech would run it (practical workflow)
1. **Rig the mesh** on a simple pipe/truss in front of (or above) the stage; aim the projector at a hidden bounce or straight onto the mesh depending on room geometry.
2. **Pull in remote speakers** (board members) from Zoom Rooms; route clean feeds via NDI into OBS, apply background removal to make them “stand” in space, and scale to life-size. (Zoom Rooms explicitly supports NDI out.)
3. **Audio**: send the room mics back to the remote board; play board audio in-room via the house PA.
4. **Network**: use venue ethernet; keep **Starlink Roam** hot as a bonded/back-up uplink for resilience.
## Alternatives (if you prefer fully boxed systems)
- **Holobox / Proto, etc.** Life-size “hologram boxes” that ship road-ready; rentals are straightforward but pricier (see Holobox rate card). Great optics if budget allows.
- **LED “hologram” fans** (cheap): good for logos or small avatars, not credible for a life-size official addressing a room. Units cost a few hundred dollars, but they’re loud and not convincing at human scale.
- **Glasses-free 3D displays** (e.g., Looking Glass): impressive, but large panels are **expensive** (65″ listings around **€56k**) and too small to feel like a person in the room.
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## The political point you can make
> “A credible, life-size ‘holographic’ presence is **already practical with commodity gear** —projector + mesh + free software—and can be set up by a **single technician**. For less than what we spend on **one year** of flights, hotels, and per diems for 13 people, we can **own** a portable system that brings the board to the public in any city, **every quarter**, with better accessibility and a smaller carbon footprint.”
If you want, I can spec a **single-page bill of materials** (with current prices) tailored to your typical room size so this reads like a procurement note rather than a sci-fi pitch.
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That
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Got it — I’ll put together a **clear, one-page bill of materials** that makes the “one-tech holographic meeting” proposal look practical, affordable, and politically defensible.
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## Portable Holographic Meeting Kit
*Single-Technician Setup • Under ~$10k CapEx • Eliminates Most Travel Costs*
## Objective
Provide a realistic, life-size “holographic” presence for 13 board members during quarterly public meetings **without** flying them around California.
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## Core Components
| **Item** | **Example Model** | **Approx. Price (USD)** | **Purpose** |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Laser Projector** | Epson PowerLite L630U (6,200 lm) | $1,900 | Bright, high-resolution projection even in lit rooms |
| **Holographic Mesh Screen** | Holo-Gauze / Holographic Foil | ~$900 (3m × 2m) | Transparent “Pepper’s Ghost” effect for life-size images |
| **Portable Frame & Stand** | Collapsible pipe/truss kit | ~$350 | Holds mesh securely in front of stage |
| **Control Laptop** | Mid-range Windows laptop (RTX GPU) | ~$1, | |
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No, don't please. Just the bottom one-time cost and per-meeting cost. Would the participants (holographs) be able to talk to each other?
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Got it — let’s keep it very simple and politically sharp.
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## Cost Comparison
### One-Time Setup Cost
- **Portable holographic meeting kit** (projector, mesh screen, stands, laptop, software): **≈ $6,000 – $8,000**
- Optional Starlink Roam backup internet: **≈ $600** one-time + **$50–$165/mo** if used.
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### Per-Meeting Cost (with one tech traveling)
- **Technician travel + day rate**: ≈ **$1,000** (hotel, per diem, labor).
- **Venue cost**: unchanged from current setup.
- **Board travel cost**: **$0** — no flights, no hotels, no per diems.
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### Current Estimated Cost (status quo)
- **13 people × $650/trip (avg. airfare + hotel + per diem)**
- **≈ $8,500+ per meeting**
- **≈ $34,000+ per year** (quarterly schedule).
**Savings after year one**: ~ **$26,000 annually** (and higher every year thereafter).
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## Two-Way Communication
Yes — with a proper holographic setup using **Zoom Rooms + NDI video routing** or similar low-latency tech, the holographic participants **can see and hear each other in real time** and interact naturally.
- Board members speak **as if seated together**;
- Public commenters hear them via the venue PA;
- Latency is roughly the same as Zoom — imperceptible for conversational purposes.
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