We could beam anybody in 4K volumetric resolution
in under a second anywhere in the world.
The way we meet is ever-evolving.
In-person is great, but with distance
and restrictions,
it's not always an option.
And after a few years of talking through our screens,
Zoom fatigue is very real.
But what if there were a middle ground?
Proto is vying to be just that.
So I'm going to interview the CEO in LA
without ever having to leave New York.
David, are you there?
Hello.
I'm here. Hi.
Tell me, how is this working?
How are you doing this right now?
I'm beaming in from Los Angeles
into a device that we have in New York right before you.
And I'm beaming my 4K volumetric resolution,
real time hologram
from 3,000 miles away so we can communicate.
I'm standing in a seven foot tall,
four and a half foot wide,
two foot deep,
holoportation machine.
And the content that's being captured
is being sent near latency-free
to you in real time.
Like I'm really there before you.
It's so what we've all dreamed of
since we watched "Smart House" as children.
But I'm curious,
how did you come up with the idea?
I used to run a department of what used to be one of the world's
world's largest hologram entertainment companies.
And one of the things that we were known for doing was
digitally resurrecting late legends
to posthumously perform on stages all over the world.
But it wasn't until I started beaming the living
that made me think.
I'm living on the West Coast
and my parents,
who are both getting older,
they live on the East Coast.
I've got young children.
So I thought, wouldn't it be cool
if they could just beam into each other's lives?
And so the idea for Proto was formed.
Talk to me about how you've differentiated
your product over the years.
Totally self-contained.
You don't need any external projectors.
You don't need any external monitors.
You don't need any external cameras.
The other thing is
the lights are on in the room.
How about that?
Shadows never existed in holograms before
because everything happened in darkness.
And now with light we can have shadows,
we can have reflections,
we can have depth and dimension.
I'm able to beam from wherever I am,
I could be in my home, I could be in my living room,
I could be in my office.
And we're using an iPhone these days
as the camera source.
So now a single iPhone
and our free app can allow the person
to be captured and then materialized
anywhere in the world.
Let's talk a little bit about
some of the barriers to entry here.
How much are we talking cost wise
and what would you say is the education level
and familiarity with technology needed to use your product?
The device itself,
because it's completely self-contained,
it doesn't take a very long time to learn.
But the costs,
you can rent them for as little as $15,000 or $25,000 per event,
and we sell them for $65,000 and up.
What is your plan for expansion
and maybe increasing that accessibility a little bit
so that mom in New Jersey
can have this product in her house?
Well, we just announced a miniature unit.
We're calling it the Proto M.
It is one-fifth scale of the device that I'm standing in right now.
So it's like a little Wonka Vision.
It's television.
It's Wonka Vision
What are the other use cases?
Obviously I can see you right now
but what other fun things can we see?
This is a museum quality device.
And why not project museum quality artwork inside?
And then NFTs,
they're being used in galleries right now all over the world.
And as we continue to evolve the technology
as a way to try on your clothes
at a department store
without actually having to wear them,
it's a full size hologram mirror.
It's my dream come true.
And you've also talked about expansion into the music space.
Tell me what that would look like?
Sean Diddy Combs, we beamed him out of his home.
We beamed Kane Brown during the iHeart Music Festival.
But it's not just for musical artists or entertainers.
It's for CEOs.
What does the future look like?
Holograms are going to be commonplace
and it's really incredible because,
there are things that you just can't see
on a Zoom call or hear on a phone call.
This is real.
I think people should be able to walk around.
I feel like people should be able to move and engage.
It's just a much more interactive, engaging experience.
So we're also going to get a little bit smaller.
We're going to be in cars,
we're going to be in the home,
we're going to be in the conference rooms.
One of our devices is right now at the University of Central Florida,
where professors and educators are using it to teach future
health care providers how to treat and diagnose their patients
through the Proto window.
My focus is on connecting people
and evolving the company
and making this thing as great as possible.