“Third Thumb” Augmentation Changes the Way we Think of Prosthetics
In 2001, within Afghanistan’s Hazarajat region, there once stood two massive Buddha monuments that was built by Bamiyan Buddhas 1,500 years ago – that is, until the Taliban destroyed them with explosives. In response to such a historical travesty, Chinese documentarians Janson Yu and Liyan Hu decided to resurrect the monuments using modern advanced technology. Using a $120,000 projector setup, the Buddha monuments reappeared during the night as 3D holograms!
“With numerous threatened historic sites in the region, technologies like holograms, 3D printing, and virtual reality are increasingly becoming viable ways to preserve cultural landmarks.” – The Creators Project
These holograms aren’t temporary either, after witnessing over 150 onlookers the night of the monument’s resurrection. The documentarians decided to donate their projecting system in the hopes that the Buddha monument holograms will continue shining each night, potentially increasing tourism in the area once again.
"#History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again" pic.twitter.com/zfVUVl8swQ
— Ali M Latifi (@alibomaye) June 6, 2015FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
3D holograms are becoming an integral facet of modern 21st century society. We find them in our concert halls, on the streets during political demonstrations, and now they’re resurrecting historical monuments that have been destroyed through decades of terrorism. The future of holograms will soon take up entire societies, merging the virtual world into our material reality. Augmented reality will consist of 3D holograms and virtual renderings of the digital sphere into the very fabric of our physical dimension. From there, how we define what is real and what is not will become irrelevant.
Photo Credit: Daily Mail
About the author
B.J. Murphy is the Editor and Social Media Manager of Serious Wonder. He is a futurist, philosopher, activist, author and poet. B.J. is an Affiliate Scholar for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) and an Ambassador for the robotics company Humai.
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