Beam me up to Hong Kong – Stephen Hawking calls in for a chat
New technology allows hologram of the scientist to speak to rapt audience members
The Hong Kong Science Park audience sat in rapture on Friday night as Stephen Hawking talked to them about everything from the beginning of time to Brexit – virtually.
In reality the world’s most famous living scientist was still at his office in Cambridge.
In what amounted to a double scoop for the local science community, Hawking appeared as a digital human hologram through technology called HumaGram, which was being demonstrated in Hong Kong for the first time.
The technology, created by ARHT Media, is at the frontier of the sort of 3D visual communication normally only seen in films like Star Wars.
The British scientist, paralysed by motor neurone disease, spoke in his signature Hawking “voice”, created by a technology that turns words “typed” by his facial movement into a human voice.
He started by giving a touching account of his early life, including being a student at Oxford and Cambridge. He said meeting his future wife gave him the momentum to be positive.