CNN has started using some pretty interesting imaging technology in covering this year’s presidential campaign. On Tuesday, they “beamed” CNN’s own Jessica Yellin as well as rap singer Will.i.am from a distant location to the CNN studios and make them appear as if they were in the room and talking to Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper.

Yellin claimed that her appearance was through holographic technology and that this was achieved through 35 high-definition cameras in a circular pattern around her which covered her from every angle and composited a 3d image of her which was then rendered into the studio.

What she failed to mention was that her image was only composited onto the broadcast picture; at no time did she appear in the studio to be seen by Blitzer. Indeed, the circular camera pattern matched with the camera motion and angle in the studio to reproduce the angle required to make her look three-dimensional; however it was not a true hologram.

A true hologram needs to be projected on a multi-plane physical glass wall infused with particulate which reflects the projected image in layers. No such wall was present in the studio.

The appearance is nevertheless a nice gimmick, one that could foreseeably be implemented in future live broadcasts, in lieu of true holographic tech which is so far too pricey and crude to be used in the way CNN is claiming that the coverage was broadcast.

Despite the misleading “hologram” title slapped on the technology, it is nevertheless a novel and very interesting way of televising news and debates, one which will arguably see more use in the future.

Update: Of the 71 million Americans who were watching the goings-on at the elections on Tuesday Night across 14 television networks, CNN held a majority of 13.3 million viewers between the start of primetime at 8 and the end of Obama’s victory speech at 12:30 am. This is the biggest audience the cable network has had in its 28-year history, and it’s also the first time it’s beaten all the broadcast networks on election night.
By comparison the ABC network counted 12.5 million viewers in the same timeframe, and NBC and CBS logged 12 million and 7.5 million respectively