Picture the Future
by Jennifer Altavilla

The closest most of us will ever get to Derek Jeter is on a plasma television screen, where every bead of sweat, every grass stain on his socks, is magnified to an almost dizzying degree. However, researchers at the University of Arizona might have found a way to actually transport the Yankee shortstop into living rooms across the U.S. Get ready for 3-D television.

Five to ten years from now you might be able go to Yankee Stadium without ever leaving your favorite recliner, the 10 researchers say. It has taken the team approximately 18 years to develop the holographic technology into a viable consumer product, Mike Steere of CNN says, in his article "Scientist: Holographic Television to Become Reality."

The team recently discovered how to make the holographic system rewriteable and erasable, which means it can finally be translated to television. Television images change many times per second, so it is vital that holographic systems are modifiable and continuously updateable. Right now the newest holographic systems can be erased and written in a matter of minutes, but Dr. Nasser Peyghambarian, chair of photonics and lasers at the University of Arizona Optical Sciences department, is optimistic that the speed will increase. The new holographic systems also have memory capacity, another prerequisite for translating the technology to television.

Other important developments in holographic technology include an increase in the variety of colors produced (from one to three), and an increase in the size of the display screen (from a 4x4 inch square to the size of a computer screen). Although such developments are promising, there are currently no U.S. sponsors for the technology, Dr. Peyghambarian told Steele. The technology is still in its infant stages and has yet to be made either efficient or cheap, both necessities for mass consumer products. However, Dr. Peyghambarian said the team will search for sponsors beyond the electronics industry, possibly in the private sector.

There are two preliminary designs for the holographic television, if and when it hits the market. It could be a flat panel mounted on the wall (similar to a flat-screen TV) with the image writing apparatus behind the wall, or it could be a horizontal panel that sits on a tabletop, with the holographic instruments tucked underneath.

So we might eventually have to make the ever-important decision: do we want to gaze admiringly at Derek Jeter from afar, or do we want to have a cozy tête-à-tête with him across the coffee table?

The more significant question, however, does not concern the perspective from which we want to observe Jeter’s profile. Rather, it has to do with the necessity, the relevancy of holographic television. Do we really need another electronic device to chain us to the couch? Why do scientists feel the need to create such technology and, even more importantly, why does society crave it?

Yes, 3-D technology can be used for noble purposes: defense systems and surgical procedures, for example. In fact, those two fields are where holographic systems will probably debut, if they ever do. But that still doesn't change the fact that the larger and more profitable market for holographic technology is in entertainment.

If 3-D televisions are successful, society could end up even more lethargic; apathetic; self-centered; and obese than it is already. It might seem novel and exciting to be able to see a Yankees game in 3-D while in the comfort and security of your home, but even a holographic television cannot replicate the smell of the beer, or the raw emotion of diehard Yankee fans. If people "gaze into the depths of [their] TVs" with the intensity that Johnathan Keats of Popular Science magazine expects them to, then they will gradually lose touch with reality. Plasma televisions already make it easy enough to live vicariously through a screen; the last thing society needs is another method of escape from paying the bills, doing the dishes, watching the kids, etc. It is also no secret that increased and more prolonged television watching is connected to an increase in junk food consumption-another method of evading reality. The easier it gets for people to escape via technology, the more likely they will bring unhealthy food with them.

Society's future doesn't look any more promising, or any more pleasurable with the addition of holographic television. Of course, there is no way of predicting exactly how holographic technology would change our habits, but it is fairly certain that it would bolster the unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle we already lead. Not such a pretty picture, now is it?