News in Brief

Holograms on Trial

After its use as a means of holoporting actors, singers and sports people to remote venues, the Proto Epic is now being trialled to deliver witness testimonies.

During the pandemic, videoconferencing was introduced in many courtrooms to help keep to social distancing and avoid unnecessary trips to courtrooms.

A court within a law school in Virginia (US) is now taking the concept to the next level and holoporting witnesses into the witness box. Although the trial was mock, the hologram witnesses seemed real as they were transmitted full-size into the courtroom, according to Judge John Gibney Jr, who sits on the US District Court.

Gibney said the appearance of the hologram witnesses during the mock trial at William & Mary Law School wasn’t as good as having a genuine human being in the courtroom, but it was superior to seeing them on a video screen.