Ivey Professor, Tima Bansal, recently spoke at the Perspectives on Sustainable Finance Conference in London, UK via live holograph. The holographic conference was hosted by the Centre for Climate Finance and Investment (CCFI) at Imperial College Business School.
To create and transmit the holograph, Bansal went to ARHT Media, a studio in Toronto that specializes in holographic telepresence. She stood in front of a black screen to deliver her live presentation, who she could see on a monitor and hear through an earpiece.
Bansal’s holographic talk focused on the dangers of short-termism in the context of finance firms. She explained that thinking short-term is the nemesis of sustainability. But, the answer to short-termism isn’t long-termism, but the ability to take both short-term and long-term perspectives simultaneously.
This holographic conference comes at a time where academic travel is under attack for its negative environmental impacts. Could holographic conferences be the future of sustainable research? Although the technology still has a way to go to be used widely, this is likely a window of things to come.