Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 20, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
US news broadcaster CNN plans to preserve the moment Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States in a very special way. The broadcaster intends to create a three-dimensional representation of the inauguration ceremony taking place today, Tuesday, on Capitol Hill in Washington. To realize the ambitious plan, CNN and Microsoft have issued a joint appeal asking visitors to the swearing-in ceremony to submit personal photographs taken with mobile phones and digital cameras. Microsoft’s Photosynth technology will then be used to assemble the submitted images into a detailed 3D computer model that effectively “freezes” the moment Obama takes the oath of office for posterity.
According to a Financial Times report, CNN intends not only to broadcast the finished 3D model in its regular television programming but also to publish an expanded version on its website. Visitors to the news broadcaster’s site will be able to immerse themselves interactively in Obama’s inauguration. In addition to freely navigating the viewpoint, an integrated zoom function is intended to bring users as close as possible to the moment the new US president is sworn in. David Bohrman, head of CNN’s Washington bureau, confirmed to the Financial Times that implementing the plans in-house was technically feasible. “With the current project, we want to test whether this technology is also suitable for gathering news,” Bohrman explained.
As evidence that CNN has often pioneered media technology in the past, Bohrman pointed to the interactive broadcast of public debates with US presidential candidates in 2007. At the time, citizens around the world could submit their personal concerns directly into the ongoing discussion via YouTube video. The first use of hologram technology during coverage of election night in November 2008 should also be mentioned in this context. “Creating a 3D model of Obama’s inauguration lies somewhere between those two earlier projects,” Bohrman emphasized.
During the inauguration festivities, CNN expects record-breaking traffic to its online news portal. To attract as many users as possible, the broadcaster will provide four simultaneous live video streams of Obama’s inauguration on its website. Through a partnership created specifically for the occasion with social network Facebook, its members can also follow developments directly through the live player on CNN.com.
