Silly Idea from the Future: Holosuit

[Winter]

Sometimes there is a design for a character that just can't be done practically with, um, practical effects. Case in point Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean is a character that could, in theory, be done with someone in a suit BUT the way his tentacle beard moves along with his tentacle hand is not something that can be done like it is in the final product so only CGI can make this look work. However, the problem here is that no matter how skilled an actor you are in the end the person you're acting with is wearing a jumpsuit with dots all over it along with dots and balls on the actors face. It doesn't matter if you are the most skilled actor to have ever lived in the end you are trying to imagine something that isn't there and as a result it undercuts your performance.

There's also the amount of time someone has to program in this character, to make sure that they catch any reflective surface to try and make sure it is reflecting something that isn't there while also removing what is actually there. And there is no programmer who can cover ever surface and as a result it takes us out of the scene, even if it's only for a moment. But what if there was a way to have a character like Davy Jones played by Bill Nighy on set that allowed said CGI to be seen on set?

Imagine this, a suit that is more or less the suit used during shooting but then a button is pressed and then Davy Jones is on set. I present to you the Holosuit. The people who make Jones in the computer finish up Jones' look before filming takes place so when the day comes to start filming all the actor needs to do is show up and put on the Holosuit and suddenly the actors are now seeing what the audience will see when the film is released. This not only allows them to have a genuine unnerving reaction to something that shouldn't be but it also means the the programmers don't have to worry about little things like reflective surfaces, shadows or trying to make the cloths move because it's all done there on set.

And, on top of all that, this is hard light Holo tech so it interacts with the world so things like small gusts of wind or droplets of water hitting it is not something that has to be worried about because this is something that is there, it was just made in a computer rather then a warehouse.

Thoughts?

[TGLS]

And, on top of all that, this is hard light Holo tech so it interacts with the world so things like small gusts of wind or droplets of water hitting it is not something that has to be worried about because this is something that is there, it was just made in a computer rather then a warehouse.

Thoughts?

Hard light is pure science fiction. The best that could be done is projecting light on to someone to make it appear that something's there, but it would likely be impractical due to difficulty in interaction and the need for many projectors.

[McAvoy]

It's funny. I had a similar idea awhile ago. I watched a bunch of old Movie Magic episodes, the show is from 1994ish and how they talk about CGI at the time got me thinking. What would be the next evolution in SFX for movies 25 years down the line from now?

FYI, one of their early episodes was about miniatures and models. Most of the episode was about DS9's Emissary. Construction of the DS9 model, the destruction of the Saratoga etc.

[Deledrius]

This could be done using some Augmented Reality tech.

I disagree with the premise that Davy Jones couldn't (ever) be done as-is with practical effects. I think it's probably true that it's currently infeasible, but there have been a lot of advances in robotics and especially soft robotics that I believe would be ideal for this sort of costume. Imagine how amazing that would be!

[clearspira]

You had me until hard light. Its pure grade-A nonsense my friend.

Putting that aside though, I have a funny feeling that holosuits would be illegal. You think that governments have invested billions in face recognition tech only for you to come along with this thing?

[Winter]

You had me until hard light. Its pure grade-A nonsense my friend.

Putting that aside though, I have a funny feeling that holosuits would be illegal. You think that governments have invested billions in face recognition tech only for you to come along with this thing?

In regards to your first point I based this off an idea where some scientist theorized how force-fields could become a reality in a few years and how they could do things like deal with the elements. This was 5 or 10 years ago so I don't remember where I saw that, (I think it was on the science or history channel) but the idea always stuck with me as the idea of a holo-deck was brought up and re-watching the LED set from the Mandalorian which is the closet we've come to a Holo-deck and even that was thought to be impossible a less then 2 years ago.

And just to go over what is impossible, a few centuries ago things like Rockets, Planes, Helicopters, Tanks, Submarines and Cars were impossible because the tech to create it didn't exist. If you were to go to Ancient Egypt and tell them that at some point there would be a weapon that could destroy entire cities in a matter of seconds and used your phone to show them it they would see it as magic because what you're doing is impossible.

So, while it may seem impossible today at some point in the future it may very well not only be possible but the norm.

As to your second point maybe it would be like a regular costume as this is something that is, in the end, projecting light and there could be ways to work around that. Still that is a good point but until such tech is created we can only speculate.

[McAvoy]

You had me until hard light. Its pure grade-A nonsense my friend.

Putting that aside though, I have a funny feeling that holosuits would be illegal. You think that governments have invested billions in face recognition tech only for you to come along with this thing?

In regards to your first point I based this off an idea where some scientist theorized how force-fields could become a reality in a few years and how they could do things like deal with the elements. This was 5 or 10 years ago so I don't remember where I saw that, (I think it was on the science or history channel) but the idea always stuck with me as the idea of a holo-deck was brought up and re-watching the LED set from the Mandalorian which is the closet we've come to a Holo-deck and even that was thought to be impossible a less then 2 years ago.

And just to go over what is impossible, a few centuries ago things like Rockets, Planes, Helicopters, Tanks, Submarines and Cars were impossible because the tech to create it didn't exist. If you were to go to Ancient Egypt and tell them that at some point there would be a weapon that could destroy entire cities in a matter of seconds and used your phone to show them it they would see it as magic because what you're doing is impossible.

So, while it may seem impossible today at some point in the future it may very well not only be possible but the norm.

As to your second point maybe it would be like a regular costume as this is something that is, in the end, projecting light and there could be ways to work around that. Still that is a good point but until such tech is created we can only speculate.

Funny I am having the same argument about holodecks against being 'bs'.

Holograms have been around for awhile. We have yet to make it look anything life like though. I am sure given time, we can figure it out.

And here is the thing about holosuites. The technology for it will not happen tomorrow. It will be a steady progress until it actually works. That will give plenty of time for the Feds to figure out countermeasures.