News: Microsoft HoloLens Makes Virtual Teleportation a Reality

Logan's Run is one of my favorite movies of all time. The dialog is cheesy, the set design and special effects are wonky, and the main villain looks like he was conceived and built by an eighth grader in shop class—oh, and his name is Box.

But there are plenty of things to like about this 1976 dystopian adventure flick. For one, a teleportation/television hybrid called "The Circuit" that you can use to beam people into your apartment for no-strings-attached sex. Well, there could be one string attached—your selected partner could pose philosophical questions that instantly make you realize that your existence is a lie, and you've spent the best years of your life doing dirty work for a corrupt system that couldn't care less about your value as an individual, prompting you to attempt a death-defying escape from the only world you've ever known.

That's a small price to pay for instant booty calls, though.

Sadly, physical teleportation hasn't been invented in real life (yet), but Microsoft is at least laying the groundwork. The company's HoloLens has a feature called "Holoportation" that's being developed by Microsoft's Interactive 3D (I3D) team.

The technology allows several cameras to capture high-quality 3D models of people to be digitized and sent anywhere there's an internet connection, all in real time.

So, say that you and a work partner are working on building a prototype of some sort, but you aren't able to be in the same location. You'll be able to just pop on a HoloLens, map your whole body in 3D, and transmit it to your coworker, and vice versa.

You can also set the program to capture objects, such as your prototype, so that you or your partner can point out specific aspects of it like you were both in the same room.

HoloLens will capture all of your movements and sounds, so it's almost like you're there in real life. You can even pull off an awkward-as-hell high-five.

Holoportation can also be used for more personal matters, like connecting with family members who live far away. Imagine being able to get the family together for an impromptu reunion, and then going back to having them thousands of miles away from you, with no travel involved. Sign me up.

You can also record your Holoportation encounters and play them back at a later time. This could be beneficial if you need to revisit a virtual "meeting," or even capturing and transmitting your recordings so someone who isn't currently available can watch them later. You can even shrink down the recordings to watch them on something smaller, like a coffee table.

There's no telling how much Holoportation is going to cost, but it probably won't be cheap considering you'll need a HoloLens and an array of high-quality 3D cameras, at the least.

Hopefully it'll be available to the general public before Logan's Run becomes reality.

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