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Think back to that iconic Star Wars scene when R2D2 beams in a hologram of Princess Leia to deliver an urgent message to Obi-Wan Kenobi. A tiny image of Princess Leia flickers before Obi Wan’s eyes, a technological marvel when the film came out in 1977. Audiences were equally entranced when a hologram of Yoda was transported through space and time to a Jedi Council Meeting.

Now researchers are taking a cue from star wars and developing 3D technology that can beam anyone – Jedi or mere mortal – to a meeting far, far away. If a 3D image isn’t tactile enough, maybe an animatronics robot would do the trick. These life-like avatars move their mouths and eyes, mirroring a person’s expression in real time.

Universities are now considering these avatars and holograms as high-tech updates to old school speaker phone and video conference technologies.

We’ve beamed in Jeffrey Young, so to speak, to tell us more. He’s senior writer for The Chronicle of Higher Education and writes for their College 2.0 blog.

The Chrinicle of Higher Education: Beam Me to the Faculty Senate

(Photo by Chris Hildreth for The Chronicle of Higher Education)