BOĞAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

MID-REPORT

Hologram Technology Use in Education

Büşra Hazal ZOR

May, 2017
 I. INTRODUCTION
Rapidly growing technology that makes us feel its presence and convenience in
every field, has become a part of our lives. One of the biggest inventions of this
developing technology is hologram.
Hologram is a three-dimensional image created by recording the actual image of
an object and presenting it with light beams using laser technology. It was first
introduced in 1947 by Dennis Gabor who is also called “Father of Holography”. Until
an experiment done in 1982, hologram was not drawing a great interest, fields of use
and studies were limited. However, as a result of that experiment, it was understood that
electrons could communicate with each other regardless of the distance between them.
After that, researches and experiments increased and a basis for today’s application
areas of hologram was provided.
In this study, application areas of holography will be briefly mentioned,
specifically in the field of education from both national and international aspects. The
aim of the study is to provide a meta-analysis of hologram applications in the field of
education by reviewing and analyzing the articles written about the subject.

II. APPLICATIONS OF HOLOGRAPHY

1. ENTERTAINMENT
One of the areas where hologram gets the most attention is the entertainment sector.
Everywhere in the world, the hologram is preferred to reach out to large number of
people, to entertain them and maybe even surprise them.
World’s first hologram entertainment center Holoverse opened in Southport
Australia in 2016.-first hologram entertainment arcade. In this amusement park which
consists of 40 holographic rooms, you can examine the planets in the universe, fight the
dragons or tour around the Goldcoast by flying over it.
In Seoul Korea, four competing theaters are able to create a feeling of watching a
live concert by using the holographic images of idols of K-pop trend which influences
the whole world nowadays. These concerts, which take place at certain times of
everyday, are accompanied by loud music and bright lights, making them harder to
separate from live versions and it attracts great attention from the audience.
 Hologram is also used to honor famous stars’ memories. In 2012 Tupac Shakur who
was shot dead in 1996, showed up on stage at Coachella as a hologram. During the 2014
Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Michael Jackson performed a show as a
hologram.
In New York, there is the oldest gallery of holography called Holographic Studios.
It offers an hour-long tour for visitors to see Studio’s own production of holograms both
for commercial and artistic purposes.
One of the benefits of hologram technology in the entertainment sector is the gaming
experience that it is providing. Microsoft’s HoloLens is a head mounted display device
which adapts the environment and creates holograms of the objects in a game allowing
players to experience gaming in real life (Levy, 2016).

2. MEDICINE
Another area where the use of hologram technology is increasing is medicine.
A company called EchoPixel offers a 3D viewer for radiologists and cardiologists to
see their patients' anatomy allowing them to examine down to the last detail. The
software converts 2D medical images to 3D objects and it is accepted by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (Handwerk, 2015).

A research confirms that holographic image of the heart provides great opportunity
for education of anatomy and have potential to be used throughout the world. 3D
echocardiographic holograms are great training tools considering the increase in number
of cardiac surgeries and interventional procedures. (Van den Bosch, Annemien E., et
al.,2005)

3. COMMUNICATION

Communication is another area where people utilize the power of holograms. A

system called Telehuman, reflects a person’s image to a pod in another place as a
hologram and people make a conversation as if they are speaking in real life. (Kim, Kibum,
et al., 2012)
Politicians also started using holograms for public speaking during election
campaigns. India's prime minister Narendra Modi used hologram for the 2014 election
campaign to reach out 800 million voters from different places. (Nelson, 2014) In 2014,
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a speech in Izmir using hologram
 technology (Hürriyet Haber, 2014). French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon appeared as
a hologram in Lyon and Paris at the same time for his presidential campaign in 2017.
(RT , 2017)
4. ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

3D hologram technology provides great benefits for architects, engineers,

designers, and their customers. It saves architects the trouble of making models in real
life, makes it easy for customers to visualize their designs by transforming them into 3d.
Besides, throughout development processes, engineers and architects collaborate to
make more efficient and effective decisions using holograms.
Microsoft’s HoloPlanner is an application for HoloLens which has a library of
3D objects allowing users to measure and decorate their rooms virtually in minutes
(Dachis, 2016).

III. HOLOGRAM IN EDUCATION

Although Holography is popular in many areas, it is clear that education is not one of the
leading fields. There are still ongoing researches and projects, but neither the full potential of
holograms in education is reached nor it is widely used.

1. INTERNATIONAL

When it comes to education and hologram, the first thing that spring to mind is virtual
teachers. Unlike a 2D image reflected on a screen, virtual teachers can communicate with
students as if they were really there. This makes it possible to reach more students in
different places. One of the first applications of virtual teachers took place at BETT2000
educational technology show in London which is demonstrated by Edex who is the largest
supplier of internet connections to the UK education market (BBC News, 2000).

3D Education is also a great benefit for deaf children to understand mathematical

concepts better. As a result of a research done in USA, deaf students confirmed that learning
is easy, fun, and less challenging when there is a real time sign language translator hologram
during the class. It is also concluded that 3D education provides easy access to educational
materials (Adamo-Villani & Anasingaraju, 2017).
 As in other areas, Microsoft’s Hololens takes place on the top in education field with
their products and innovations. With the application called HoloStudy, they aim to make
studying biology, chemistry, geology and chemistry fun and easy for students by using
virtual teachers, 3D games and tests (Bonasio, 2016).

The use of hologram in education is not limited to schools. Interactive digital exhibits
(IDE) contribute to the visitor's learning experience. According to a survey conducted in
Taman Tamadun Islam, Architectural Museum Malaysia, National Museum and Museum
of History and Etnography, IDE which includes holograms, touch screens, virtual reality
and other multimedia devices makes it easy to both access and remember historical and
cultural information (Abubakar, ,Mahmud & Jahnkassim, 2014).

2. NATIONAL

Unfortunately, in our country, hologram technology is not widely used especially in

education. Researches and studies are limited in this area.

A research done in Zubeyde Hanım Kız Teknik ve Anadolu Kız Meslek Lisesi,
Etimesgut Kız Teknik ve Meslek Lisesi confirmed that the use of 3D and hologram
technology affects the students’ success positively. Teachers have made positive comments
in general about the use of hologram as course material but when it comes to disadvantages,
they think it is not very possible to apply this technology to every course due to school
budget. The students indicated that their motivation is higher and they understand the topic
better with holographic examples used as course materials (Sertalp, 2010).

According to another research done in our country, augmented reality increases the
creativity of students because of the ability to display the course contents in 3D. These
applications also provide opportunities to enhance the interaction among students (Sırakaya,
& Seferoğlu, 2016).

Istanbul Şehir Üniversitesi and Musion which is a company that holds the most creative
patents of 3D effects and technologies in the world, agreed to establish a common "Media
Technologies Center" based on hologram technology in 2014, which will conduct
researches on the use of this technology in different fields of applications. (Musion, 2014)
IV. REFERENCES

Levy, J. Commercialisation Opportunities and Threats of Augmented Reality on the

Example of HoloLens Возможности и угрозы для коммерциализации технологий
дополненной реальности на примере «HoloLens».

Handwerk, Brian (2015). Medical Holograms Are Now Part of the Surgeon’s Toolkit
Retrieved April 29, 2017, from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/medical-
holograms-are-now-part-surgeons-toolkit-180954791/

Van den Bosch, A. E., Koning, A. H., Meijboom, F. J., McGhie, J. S., Simoons, M. L., Van
der Spek, P. J., & Bogers, A. J. (2005). Dynamic 3D echocardiography in virtual
reality. Cardiovascular ultrasound, 3(1), 37.

Kim, K., Bolton, J., Girouard, A., Cooperstock, J., & Vertegaal, R. (2012, May).
TeleHuman: effects of 3d perspective on gaze and pose estimation with a life-size
cylindrical telepresence pod. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors
in Computing Systems (pp. 2531-2540). ACM.

Nelson, Dean (2014). 'Magic' Modi uses hologram to address dozens of rallies at once
Retrived April 29, 2017, from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/10803961/Magic-Modi-uses-
hologram-to-address-dozens-of-rallies-at-once.html

Hürriyet Haber (2014). Erdoğan'ın hologramlı konuşması dış basında Retrived April 29,
2017, from
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/erdoganin-hologramli-konusmasi-dis-basinda-25688613

RT (2017). French leftist Mélenchon launches presidential campaign with hologram

Retrived April 29, 2017, from
https://www.rt.com/viral/376405-melenchon-hologram-france-election/
Dachis, Adam (2016). Design a Room Layout with Holographic Furniture Using
HoloPlanner
Retrived April 29, 2017, from
https://hololens.reality.news/news/design-room-layout-with-holographic-furniture-using-
holoplanner-0172533/

BBC News (2000). Meet the hologram teacher

Retrived May 3, 2017, from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/education/2000/bett2000/600667.stm

Adamo-Villani, N., & Anasingaraju, S. (2017). Holographic Signing Avatars for Deaf
Education. In E-Learning, E-Education, and Online Training: Third International
Conference, eLEOT 2016, Dublin, Ireland, August 31–September 2, 2016, Revised
Selected Papers (pp. 54-61). Springer International Publishing.

Bonasio, Alice (2016) Making holograms in the classroom a reality

Retrived May 3, 2017, from
http://www.cio.com/article/3150963/education/making-holograms-in-the-classroom-a-
reality.html

Abubakar, J. A., Mahmud, M., & Jahnkassim, P. S. (2014, November). User perception on
interactive digital exhibits and learning experience. In Information and Communication
Technology for The Muslim World (ICT4M), 2014 The 5th International Conference
on (pp. 1-6). IEEE.

Sertalp, Evren (2010) Görsel Iletişimde Üç Boyut Algisi; Hologram Tekniği Ve Bu

Teknolojinin Eğitim Ortamina Aktarilmasi

Sırakaya, M., & Seferoğlu, S. S. (2016). Öğrenme ortamlarında yeni bir araç: Bir eğitlence
uygulaması olarak artırılmış gerçeklik. Eğitim Teknolojileri Okumaları, 417-438.
Musion (2014) İstanbul Şehir Üniversitesi ve Musion Türkiye, Üç Boyutlu Hologram
Teknolojisini Geliştirmek İçin Medya Teknolojileri Merkezi Kuruyor
Retrived May 3, 2017, from
http://www.musion.com.tr/news/istanbul-sehir-universitesi-ve-musion-turkiye-uc-
boyutlu-hologram-teknolojisini-gelistirmek-icin-medya-teknolojileri-merkezi-kuruyor/