Hologram tech paves the way for new Elvis show

Elvis Presley is the latest deceased artist set to return to the stage in digital form.

U.K.-based immersive specialist Layered Reality announced on Thursday that it’s creating the Elvis Evolution show featuring The King in holographic form.

The show will debut in London in November before heading to other major cities around the world, including Las Vegas, Berlin, and Tokyo.

“The show peaks with a concert experience that will recreate the seismic impact of seeing Elvis live for a whole new generation of fans, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy,” Layered Reality said on the show’s website.

It said that a “life-sized digital Elvis will share his most iconic songs and moves” thanks to a “unique blend of technology, augmented reality, theater, projection, and multi-sensory effects,” adding that “Elvis fans can look forward to a memory-making experience like no other.”

After the show, the venue will also host an event at an Elvis-themed restaurant and bar with live music, DJs, and performances.

“Elvis Evolution is a next-generation tribute to the musical legend that is Elvis Presley,” Layer Reality chief executive Andrew McGuinness said in a statement. “Elvis maintains superstar status globally and people around the world no longer want to sit there and passively receive entertainment — they want to be a part of it.”

Hyping it up, McGuinness said the event will be “a memory-making experience that will be a bucket-list item for Elvis fans and admirers around the world,” adding that audiences will be able to “step into the world of Elvis, walk in his shoes, and celebrate his extraordinary musical legacy.”

Using holograms to bring back dead artists has generated much debate in recent years, with some loving the way the technology can recreate concert-sized events featuring their favorites artists, and others finding the whole thing downright creepy.

However, the high-tech events don’t always involve artists that are no longer with us. Seventies pop legend ABBA has been running a successful show in London since last year that features digital versions of its four members, while aging rockers Kiss recently announced they’ll be sending holograms on the road so that they can take things a little bit easier — understandable considering that its four band members have a combined age of 273.

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