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The secret behind the Tupac Shakur hologram revealed

This illustration shows how the late rapper was beamed onto the Coachella stage on Sunday. 

 

Fernando Alfonso III

Streaming

Posted on Apr 18, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 6:21 pm CDT

The mystery behind Coachella’s Tupac Shakur hologram has been solved.

An illustration by Roxanne Palmer for the International Business Times showed how a projector, a reflective surface, and a properly angled transparent foil created the hologram of the late West Coast rapper on Sunday.

The hologram, which was created by  Digital Domain Media Group Inc., has gotten so popular there are plans to have it tour with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre this summer.

“One option would be a tour in stadiums, involving other hip-hop stars, including Eminem, 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa,” reported the Wall Street Journal. “Alternately, they could stage a more limited tour, featuring only Dre, Snoop Dogg and the virtual Tupac, in smaller arenas.”

The social news site Reddit got hold of the illustration Wednesday morning and discussed what it meant for the future of the music industry.

“I’m going to be very interested to see what kind of popularity this gains in the coming years. Could we see a rise of ‘holographic concerts’ where Elvis or Biggie Smalls performs to a sold out show?” commented moddestmouse. “This could be a real change in the live music scene…or be a one off fluke. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Another Reddit user posted the following image of what an all-hologram Coachella lineup would look like.

Photo by jlmaral

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*First Published: Apr 18, 2012, 12:19 pm CDT