Verly looks beyond 3D to high-tech future

VerlyConfab co-founder Jacques Verly looks beyond 3D to high-tech future:"We appeal to lots of different people: artists, filmmakers, scientists, engineers people who think in terms of equations, and others in terms of pictures."The synergy between these various disciplines that the event aspires to promote may produce new products that the entertainment biz can exploit in the future."The stereoscopic movie is very exciting, but it is the first step in a long process," Verly says. "I was thinking a few days ago, 'Will we see the time when you have a kind of holographic movie theater?' One day it will filter out from the research labs, and everyone will rush to see the new 'Avatar' in a holographic theater. I'm probably dreaming, but there are plenty of things to do in 3D."One of the recent achievements of the professor, who formerly worked at Stanford and MIT, was to organize a live 3D transmission of neurosurgery last year at a health conference in Liege.The operation was carried out at the University Hospital of Liege and was watched by a mesmerized public in a movie theater downtown. One woman interviewed by the local pubcaster said, "This was better than 'Avatar.' "Not something you should expect to see in a multiplex near you, yet proof that the media biz, medicine and science can combine effectively.RELATED LINKS Mart aims to boost indie 3D Contact Leo Barraclough at leo.barraclough@variety.com