2020 contender Andrew Yang wants to use a 3D hologram of himself to campaign in multiple places at once

Andrew Yang large headshot

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang wants to use a hologram, which he unveiled in a Wednesday TMZ appearance, to help him campaign in multiple places at once.
Yang showed TMZ video footage of hologram of himself performing a duet alongside a hologram of rapper Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996.
While holographic technology has important uses in medical imaging and X-rays, secure data storage, and even art, it hasn't been used in political campaigns — yet.
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Entrepreneur and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has rolled out a number of creative policy proposals to harness the power of technology and artificial intelligence to improve life in America — and to his own campaign strategy.

In a Wednesday appearance on TMZ, Yang unveiled video footage showing a hologram of himself performing a duet alongside a hologram of rapper Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996.

According to Yang, the idea behind the hologram is to allow him to campaign in two places at once.

In an interview with local Iowa newspaper the Carroll Times Herald, Yang said he hoped his hologram would give him an edge over the other 17 candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic nomination by allowing him to theoretically campaign in multiple competitive swing states on the same day.

“We are exploring rolling a truck out that would enable someone to see a hologram of me that is three-dimensional give my stump speech,” Yang said, adding that after the hologram delivered the speech, Yang himself would come onto to the live feed and take questions.

Yang added that not only would the hologram give him an advantage on the campaign trail, but it would fit in with the message of his campaign "that it is 2019, and soon it will be 2020, and things are changing, and we can’t just keep doing the same things over and over again and expect it to achieve the results we need."

Yang also floated the possibility of creating other holograms for celebrities and other public figures so they too could remotely join Yang on the trail.

"When you see the hologram, the whole thing is very fun and invigorating," Yang told the Times Herald. "Certainly, when I saw the technology in action, I enjoyed it a great deal, so for folks in Iowa and other places, I think it will just be a fun way to experience it. It might be even more fun than seeing me in person.”

While holographic technology has important uses in medical imaging and X-rays, secure data storage, and even art, it hasn't been used in political campaigns — yet.

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