(Los Angeles) Teleportation really holds no secrets for him: more than fifty years after being transported to distant planets in the Star Trek series as Captain Kirk, William Shatner appeared as a hologram during a demonstration in Sydney.
The 92-year-old actor was the star of a publicity convention in Australia, where his likeness appeared in a giant action figure-style box despite being in a California studio.
“You’re 7,000 miles from here and I’m here in Los Angeles,” he told the audience. “And you can hear every word I say. It’s as if I was there, in the telephone booth. »
This technology from Proto, based in Los Angeles, projects a high-definition 2D image, to which shadows cast in the studio are added to create the illusion of a three-dimensional volume.
Displayed on a human-sized screen, which takes up most of a 2.2 meter device, the result is quite realistic, without being free from a few hiccups.
The demonstration witnessed by AFP initially failed and the audience was left in front of a blank screen, while Shatner gestured in vain to create a hazy illusion reminiscent of Star Tre’s teleports.
“There are always risks when using new technology,” the actor gushed, when he appeared in Sydney moments later.
Presenting this new technique, called “holoportation”, with interpreter Captain James T. Kirk was a no-brainer, according to Proto boss David Nussbaum.
“William Shatner imprinted the idea of ​​holoportation into our imaginations through his performances in Star Trek and he can now teleport anywhere on Earth, anywhere in the world,” the entrepreneur enthused.
Star of this cult science fiction series, which followed the adventures of a crew and their spaceship across the galaxy, the Canadian actor is the oldest person to have been in space, boarding aboard of a Blue Origin rocket in 2021 – Jeff Bezos’ space venture.
A self-proclaimed fan of new technologies, Mr. Shatner believes that Hollywood, currently shut down by the strike of actors and screenwriters, must adapt by leaving room for all.
“We can’t do what we were doing last year or six months ago,” he explained. “Artificial intelligence, 3D, streaming are all new ideas”, which require “a new protocol”, according to him.
The use of AI is currently one of the points of contention between studios and creatives, who fear that robots generate scripts or clone their voice and image, without fair compensation.
Studios are “fighting because they don’t want to pay,” Shatner said, hoping that actors and writers won’t shed “too much blood” in the dispute.