Washington Post Features ICT’s Hologram Holocaust Survivor Collaboration with USC Shoah Foundation

An Associated Press article, carried in the Washington Post and other papers throughout the country, featured ICT’s New Dimensions in Testimony project, a collaboration with the USC Shoah Foundation to record and display Holocaust survivors’ testimony in a way that will continue the dialogue between Holocaust survivors and learners far into the future. The article recounts how a digital version of survivor Pinchas Gutter was able to answer real-time questions posed to him at the Glimspe digital media showcase held on the USC campus.
Paul Debebec, ICT’s associate director for graphics research, was quoted in the story discussing the project’s goal of being able to project a life-size 3-D version that people can interact with in a museum or classroom setting within one to five years.
“Having actually put it together, it’s clear this will happen,” said Debevec.
ICT’s David Traum and Lori Weiss were featured in photographs accompanying the story. Traum and ICT’s Ron Arstein are working on the natural language aspect of the program to allow the hologram to not only be able to tell a story but recognize questions and answer them succinctly. Weiss, ICT’s director of communication and research operations, was photographed in Light Stage X, an ICT Graphics Lab innovation used for creating believable digital doubles.