Tupac Shakur returns… in hologram form

If Paul and Ringo tour with holograms of John and George it could be interesting, then again it is really creepy and disturbing as cool as the technology is.

 

Here's how they did it:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-04-16/how-tupac-became-a-hologram-plus-is-elvis-next

 

So now can we stop calling it a "hologram?"

 

It just sounds cooler than "projection".

 

pretty amazing
some new hardware will be needed
for the stereo

 

The "hologram" technique is based on a very old stage trick: stretching reflective translucent scrim material on an angle overhead, and then shining a bright light on an actor performing below the stage level, so that their image is reflected and appears to hover at the same level as live actors. Many old plays that call for a ghost onstage have seen productions that use this technique for decades.

In this case, what is notable is that they spent *zillions* of dollars animating a digital model and projecting it on a reflective white stage surface so that what you see on the scrim is a "reanimated" version of the dead performer. Does it falsely lessen the tragedy of Tupac's death and continue to cheapen his legacy, as some have argued? Or does it seamlessly match his prescient, timeless music to a state of heightened technological advancement? I can't decide.

 

I would like a personal hologram of Stevie Nicks circa 1976 beamed into my bedroom.

 

Skynyrd did something years ago with Ronnie Van Zant on a video screen and brother Johnny doing a duet of Travelin Man. I thought that was pretty cool. I mean the technology here is cool but......

 

And before that it was Natalie Cole and her father, and Hank Williams, Jr., and Hank...

 

Yes and Queen+Paul Rodgers doing "Bohemian Rhapsody", with Freddie onscreen circa 1986. As I noted above, the basic ideas are not new but this particular instatiation is.

 

19th century tech with some 21st century CGI. Nice.

 

Thanks for letting me know. I didn't see them in person at a concert. That is why I mentioned Skynyrd. I did see that live. I thought it had relevance to the discussion.

 

Terrible. Tacky. Gross. Something is fundamentally wrong with this...

 

welcome to the future

 

That Skynyrd tour in 1997, was promoting the album "Twenty," which features the studio version of Ronnie & Johnny together...

LINK : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9F_DkkIKPs

 

Tupac might be going on tour!

http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/stop-t...plans-shakur-mother-positively-173704154.html

Boy, that was fast…

 

We are living in such a bizarre juncture in history.

I can't help but notice that the rapid progress of technology is resulting in the rapid stagnation of cultural evolution. Not only are we enamored with the past, we are using technology in every possible way to access and evoke it (case in point: the Tupac animation). Look around today's world: we hardly dress any differently or speak any differently than we did in the early 1990s. Music is plainly and openly (and proudly!) derivative of past performers and styles to an unprecedented degree. Even the style of our cars, houses, and cities aren't dramatically different. The only thing that has changed, of course, is our technology. Compare this to any set of earlier decades, and the difference is immediately noticeable.

I don't mean to sound like a curmudgeon or anything, but I can't be the only one who is noticing this. Culturally speaking, we seem to be grinding to a halt. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, necessarily; after all, I love the sorts of things we are harkening back to. But let's face it: when the highlight of a major music festival is how we were able to resurrect an artist who died 20 years ago, something bizarre is really happening. Where do we go from here?

 

Heaven forbid.

 

"Death By Nostalgia" is what Zappa called it.
I agree. I was wondering if it was because I'm in my mid-40s and really don't have too much to relate with in popular music, but it is true- not much has changed except technology in 25 years.

Perhaps some technology is created because of yearning for the past.

 

Sort of funny that such a quote came from a guy who's 60's albums get so much discussion here.

 

Dead on. We've always recycled the past but the cycle has grown frightfully shorter. Culturally, the current styles are simply rehashes of the worst parts of the 80's. There is zero originality going on because thats not cool. Retro is cool. We'll probably be labelled as grumpy old men, but something just aint kosher these days...

 

This has been going on for some time with film (remember the Fred Astaire vacuum commercial?)

But the generation gap is perhaps a recent cultural anomaly anyway -- 100 years, perhaps? 150? I'm guessing that things did not change as quickly in the 1700's, as a comparison.

Perhaps things are grinding to a halt, sans technology. Indie music in particular is, imo, very "retro" and even though I love modern music, perhaps that's the reason WHY I love it. Some new bands could be dropped into the late 1980's and they'd fit it quite well there.

At least for film / TV, my guess is that many cultural icons will live on for many years after we're gone. It woud not surprise me, for example, if Star Trek TOS was resurrected one day with CGI crewmen with actors (or computers) filling in the voices / mannerisms. And I'd bet you that one day there will be a CGI-based Beatles band doing a virutal tour. Maybe not while Macca and Ringo are alive, but give it 30 years and I think it will happen. And who knows, maybe it could even interact with the audience. Creepy!

 

so from now on
when someone claims to have seen a deceased artist (in concert)
you'll have to clarify, the real one or the remaster/reissue

 

I'm only in my 20s, but I'm well aware that nearly every cultural object or style we appreciate - everything from Mad Men to the Black Keys to hipster eyeglasses - is basically a facsimile of or tribute to another era. It's a weird feeling.

That being said, I love that technology enables me to access almost anything from any point in cultural history on command.

 

My thoughts exactly. The 'creepy' feeling is overwhelming.

Why even have living, breathing people go on tour now in the flesh? The industry can just have their holograms go out on tour for them.