It was described as a hologram – and was used for the first time in the TV business. But is CNN’s hologram experiment really adding value to the news coverage?

I must admit I was intrigued. And also proud – being from Norway. Because the technology behind the hologram experiment was provided by the Norwegian company Virzt.

This is how it looked on CNN:

But is the experiment really adding to the value of the news coverage? E-Media Tidbits, the online media blog from Poynter Institute, has some doubts.

Amy Gahran writes:

In my opinion, this stunt succeeded in being visually interesting and entertaining. I personally like that CNN experiments with new tools, on TV and online. However, this particular tool added absolutely nothing to the substance of the coverage — and thus, it became a mere stunt that trivialized CNN’s coverage.

I think it is an interesting reflection. While the technology is amazing, we need to ask whether it actually improves the credibility of the medium.

Personally I think CNN is doing OK. And the main reason is that they do not pretend that the person actually is in the same room as the anchor.

But if they cross that border, pretending that the image is real, the credibility certainly is at risk.

It will be very interesting to observe how this technology will be used by the media in the years to come.