Zoom has become so commonplace, it’s now a proprietary eponym for the video call.

“I think we’ve all experienced zoom fatigue after a couple of years of dealing with the pandemic,” started Conor O’Reilly of ARHT Media.

Various companies are working to make virtual conversations more realistic.

Technology from ARHT can turn anyone into a realistic looking hologram instantly. Google is working on a technology called Project Starline. Apple’s new Vision Pro turns you in to a Digital Persona so you can FaceTime even while wearing a headset.

“When a hologram appears, people sit up in their seats a little bit,” said O’Reilly.

Their technology consists of two parts: a basic studio, then a person-sized box with an LCD screen.

The two elements can be thousands of miles apart and you can still present and interact live.

I tried recording myself in the studio, then watching the playback in the holographic box. I also chatted live with another ARHT employee located in Seattle.

Both experiences were incredibly lifelike. The illusion works really well.

The secret?

“We’re using lights to cast a natural shadow and taking that shadow and putting it in the box to help create that illusion,” explained O’Reilly.

This technology is still expensive. The hologram box is roughly $65,000, or you can rent the setup for about $5,000 a month.

Keep in mind that’s down from more than $80,000 just a few years ago.

I tested ARHT’s solution in 2017. Back then, the holographic effect required a 30×10 foot screen and stage. ARHT says they still use that setup for large scale events, but they are working to put these smaller holographic boxes and studios in locations around the world.

You can already find them in selected WeWork locations.

“We’re not trying to replace all meetings. A lot of people aren’t looking to hop on planes every week so this is a nice solution to sort of reduce a little bit of that travel,” concluded O’Reilly.