Holograms are primed to disrupt visual collaboration as we know it. But how well do we really know visual collaboration and, for that matter, how much do we know about holograms?

Visual collaboration is not, as one might assume, a bunch of people separated by distance, connecting face-to-face over a call. That’s video conferencing. Visual collaboration involves engaging ways of using technology to bring information together in one space, accessible from multiple locations.

And as for holograms, it seems, they’re somewhat misunderstood.

In fact, there was an awful lot of hologram controversy surrounding Super Bowl LII, after fans were promised a hologram of Prince during the halftime show. Producers scrapped the idea at the last minute and instead of a hologram, delivered Prince’s image as a projection.

Some viewers didn’t even notice, believing the projection to be a hologram, others were unimpressed, sparking numerous stories about the lack of hologram during the halftime show.

So just to set the record straight: A hologram is a 3-D image formed by the interference of light beams from a laser or other coherent light source. This is an important distinction because some experts believe that holograms will actually disrupt visual businesses and collaboration as we know it.