Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Martin Luther King Jr. Hologram Will Give His 'I Have A Dream' Speech Today

By Kelly Bauer | January 16, 2017 11:51am
 This rendering shows what a hologram of Martin Luther King Jr. will look like. The hologram will deliver King's famous
This rendering shows what a hologram of Martin Luther King Jr. will look like. The hologram will deliver King's famous "I Have A Dream Speech" on Monday at Merchandise Mart.
View Full Caption
Courtesy Adam Wisniewski

CHICAGO — A hologram of Martin Luther King Jr. will give his famous "I Have A Dream" speech to honor the civil rights hero at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago Monday evening.

The hologram will be part of the "MLK 3-D Experience" at 1871 in Merchandise Mart. One person will wear a Microsoft HoloLens that will project the 3-D hologram while others can watch, said Adam Wisniewski, founder of EX3 Labs, which created the hologram.

The King hologram will differ from others — like a singing "hologram" of rapper Tupac that gained national attention in 2012 — because this one will be three-dimensional and people can interact with it, Wisniewski said.

The semitransparent hologram won't walk around and will only speak a portion of King's speech, but it can be viewed from different angles if the user with the HoloLens walks around it, or it can be "pinched" like a smartphone screen to zoom in and out, Wisniewski said.

That interaction is thanks to the HoloLens, a glasses-like headset that acts as an augmented reality device, Wisniewski said. Wearers can see the physical world while the headset projects holograms in front of them, and people can interact with the holograms.

Perfecting the King hologram took months, Wisniewski said.

"We've been working on this since probably December," Wisniewski said. "Relatively quick turnaround, but it's been around the clock."

Attendees also will be able to use a virtual reality device, the HTC VIVE, that will take people onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where civil rights activists were attacked marching from Selma.

Another virtual reality device, Google Cardboard, will allow attendees to see and feel like they're in the church where King preached, Wisniewski said.

The event is invitation-only. It runs 6:30-8 p.m. Monday at 1871 in Merchandise Mart.