Nerds across America agree: CNN's election night gimmick was a giant fraud (that's right: the holograms weren't actually holograms) but here's the thing: A holodeck is the kind of giant step for mankind that you don't just unstep -- once the people have tasted just how awesome the future can be, there's no going back. As we wait for the inevitable holo-craze to seep into everything from Crunch Gyms (holographic trainers? we can see it) to the 92nd St. Y (they can holograph David Sedaris in from his French farmouse to give a weekly talk), there are places to go locally to get your fill of weird, unsettling virtual reality around town.
Old-timers may miss the Museum of Holography (it was on Mercer Street back when SoHo was interesting but shuttered in 1992 - you'll now have to head to the Museum of Holography in Chicago, new home of anything that matters) but there's always the Center for the Holographic Arts. Wait, you didn't know there was a Center for the Holographic Arts? Really? Wow. <awkward pause> Well, it's in Long Island City, so we suppose you could have missed it. In addition to checking out holograms of Walter Cronkite, David Byrne and George Plimpton, you can sit for your very own holographic portrait. The sitting lasts 30-45 minutes, the hologram takes two weeks to create, and the whole shebang'll run you $1000 for the first copy and $450 for each additional copy.
Meanwhile, we bet you've walked past the Holographic Studios on 26th Street a hundred times and not realized it. Here, for just $175, you can learn the basics of making holography (a more thorough introduction will run you $275) and best of all, you get to squirrel away, Dr. Strangelove-style, in a "midtown Manhattan subterranean laser holography laboratory" and make your very own hologram to keep.
