Wikileaks’ Julian Assange turns up on stage in Nantucket – as a hologram

Julian Assange turned up on a stage in Massachusetts on Sunday, even though hes still firmly holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London.

So how did he do that?

Thanks to tech company Hologram USA, the Wikileaks founder was able have his image reconstructed live on stage at The Nantucket Project, an annual bash thatbrings together the worlds leading thinkers, visionaries, and performers for some informal chit-chat and social shenanigans.

If the name of the company rings a bell, that might be because it was also behind the famous reappearance of Tupacin 2012. Alegal spatconcerning theMichael Jacksonholographic performance in May also landed it in the news just the other day.

While Tupac and Jacksonare sadly no longer with us, Assange is most definitely still knocking around, albeit within an Ecuadorian-owned building in London. However, due to his self-imposed confinementat the embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden where he faces questioning over alleged sex assaults Assange doesnt get out much, or at all, to be exact.

Related:Your next smartphone could have a holographic projector inside it

While hes been able to do print interviews and appear online from the embassy via services like Skype, this is the first time since he turned up at the embassy two years ago that hes gone all 3D on us.

Interviewed by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, the feat (excerpt below) involved a camera at the embassy, satellite trucks in London and Nantucket, and some very powerful projectors. The live interview saw a life-size Assange (well, it wouldve looked a bit silly if he was only 30 cmtall) appearing on stage alongside Jarecki.

Related:Hologram replaced human receptionist at London office

From what weve seen of it, the talk seemed to go smoothly enough, apart from the very end when an attempt at a high fivewas scuppered by the six-second satellite delay, leaving both interviewer and interviewee looking a little uncomfortable.

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Wikileaks’ Julian Assange turns up on stage in Nantucket – as a hologram