As Covid restrictions around the world have made travel difficult, many events have begun experimenting with hologram technology to be able to bring remote speakers and presenters on stage in a more lifelike way and go a step beyond simple video streams. This technology was recently displayed at the 2022 Star Awards, which were held last month at the MES Theatre at Mediacorp in Singapore, with one of Proto Inc.’s (previously PORTL) holoportation devices.
“Fears of disruption from COVID were a big part of the Star Awards producers' idea to use Proto — they had been planning this for months of course and couldn't predict where any part of Asia might be in the pandemic,” says Noah Rothstein, Director of Operations at Proto. “But it also fit the theme they were working with for the awards — they had a robot handing out the awards for example. Using Proto expanded the range of celebrities they were able to have participate — there's no excuse not to present when you're asked when you can just beam in!”
Indeed, several celebrities were unable to make it to Singapore and instead beamed in from Hong Kong and Taiwan to present awards. Proto enabled them to appear as high-quality holograms and to interact in real time with the host as well as the audience.
"We were set up in Singapore and had kind of a neat experience with Mediacorp's teams in Taiwan and Hong Kong,” says Rothstein. “They sent us their live feed to view in the Proto in Singapore so we could critique them as they rehearsed, and we viewed their actual set up via Zoom and used a translator to dial in the best filming process with the teams. Then we were able to rehearse all the interactions from country to country."
David Nussbaum, Proto Inc. Inventor and CEO, adds, "We've often sent our own crew to remote locations to help produce the beam — but we're blown away with how well Noah and his team did on this: being able to guide the teams in the other cities remotely for something being seen by millions, where quality was crucial. It's partly thanks to how easy Proto is to use, and partly thanks to the experience the Proto team has now — with hundreds of high-profile events and live beams under our belt in all kinds of situations.”
Proto now also enables lower-quality beams from smartphones, so attendees or fans can beam in for unique activations and experiences. One of the most creative elements of the Star Awards show involved host Chan Hanwei appearing as though he was entering the Proto device on stage.
"We are always impressed with what people's imagination comes up with. This moment and a few others like it in the broadcast were so impressive, and so fun — in this case it was a bit like a magic trick and I don't want to spoil it — but I will tell you it was all live, with no pre-recording involved," says Nussbaum.
“I think the most amazing thing about this activation is that the Star Awards 2022 built their entire live show around Proto — a device they hadn't even seen in person yet. And it worked extraordinarily well. We're proud that they recognized and trusted our ability to deliver,” says Rothstein.
This marks the first time that Proto has been used for an awards show, but it has also been used in similar circumstances to beam speakers into conferences from across the world. The tech may not be in the budget for every event, but as virtual and hybrid elements become event mainstays, holograms offer an engaging way to overcome geographic boundaries, and it will be fun to see how more events take advantage of it.
“This was Proto's first awards show — and it is pretty much the biggest in Asia,” says Nussbaum. “I can't wait to see who will be first in the U.S. to use holoportation as a way to bring in more people from more places.”
