I remember my first trip - at that point, I wasn’t sure about the whole affair. But it’s the way things are now. Really, I am thankful for what I have. I suppose that is what we are all doing. Losing things we would rather keep, and living anyway.
Timmy comes bouncing down the stairs usually at about seven o’clock on Saturday mornings. I’m already awake, going over the week’s submissions, drinking a cup of coffee or tea. Amelie stays asleep - she likes Saturdays, and she likes that I get up to handle Timmy for a while. Sometimes he even helps me mark the papers. The students appreciate the doodles, even though they’ve never met my boy. It’s often grey here in the mornings, and the view over the firth is obscured by the mist. Timmy is sitting across from me, messily devouring his scrambled egg breakfast. Then he’ll come around and lean against my shoulder as I write, like he usually does. It would be nice if it could stay like this, but, as I say, that’s alright.
Holograms, when I was Timmy’s age, were a thing of the future. At that point, they were only in the movies, or in maths-y people’s dreams. People thought about them in the same way they thought about driverless cars: something that they might see in their lifetimes, but wouldn’t mind too much if they didn’t.
But then 2027 came, and with it a total change in the way that we did business. Once upon a time, you only had to look at pictures or, if you were in a big city, maybe high-powered billboards that could play short, animated advertisements. But that was the extent of it. Adverts in those days were flat. But then somebody must have cracked something, because little projections started popping up everywhere. I remember the first time I saw one was in a whiskey bottle, in a virtual tour of an Edinburgh Distillery, where a bottle filled with colourful, holographic liquids. That was 2023, so a few years must have passed, but I remember the next time was in a McDonald’s. Floating above the counter was a perfectly symmetrical, mouth-watering, rotating Big Mac, beneath a floating price tag.
“They can do that now?” I said to Amelie.
“They’re always doing new things,” she said, shrugging.
Then they were in pharmacies, bars and jewellery stores. Of course, there was still a very real world behind the floating objects. We were supposed to be looking after the environment, which meant nobody was doing it. There was too much business to be had, driven by a revolution in the capacities of art and technology. The two had met in an entirely new way and, I have to say, they were quite impressive. I cannot bring myself to dislike the things. In all honesty, I enjoy looking at them. They are, really, quite something. For all of humanity’s various outcomes, these little holos are at least colourful.
But I am digressing. I was originally talking about my first trip to the zoo, which came into my mind because Timmy has asked me to take him today. The zoo is, like most, without animals (after the 2039 re-wilding attempts), and not very popular amongst people my age. They walk around with their heads down, like children who have put themselves on the naughty step. As I’ve mentioned, my first trip made me uneasy, but, also, the holograms are entertaining. I don’t see anything wrong with them. Timmy and I will probably go later today. His favourite exhibit is the “Once Upon A Time” section, with lots of tigers and killer whales. It’s quite amazing: the computers can sense your movement, and the animals react to you as though you were really there. When Amelie wakes up, I’ll make her coffee and try to drop the plans in lightly. It would be nice, I think, for the three of us.
But realistically, we might not go to the zoo today. I’ve got all of these papers to mark and Amelie is working on a painting of sunflowers, with what can only be called “loving ferocity.” She once told me to move because, and I quote, “my face was messing up the painting.” I am sure it will turn out beautiful. But our plans for the zoo may not turn out so well. Timmy, who has now finished his breakfast (and graduated to scribbling over my notepad), might have to wait until tomorrow. But oh well. I’ll take him to McDonald’s, or something, to make up for it.
read the original story (BBC News):
Why a 'hologram revolution' could be on the way - BBC News
The views expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of the author. The stories themselves are based on imagined events. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is fictitious and should not be taken as representative.
Worst use of holograms so far was the fake Abba tour. Friend of mine saw it and said it was rubbish
Glad I do not have a mobile phone/watch BBC/read MSM etc but glad I have seen animals such as snakes and monkeys in jungles. Also swam in sea full of turtles/sea snakes/sharks etc. Must admit I stayed away from tiger and lion land incase it was 'din din' times!. As for the 'HOLOGRAM REVOLUTION WORLD' I shall give that a BIG RED PASS CARD! Tell the truth was never that keen on zoos and museums, zoos to me a bit cruel and museums full of stolen stuff and part truths! Managed to get through life so far with out them so bye bye to H R before it fully arrives!