We often don’t get the opportunity to talk about HOLOGATE’s humble beginnings, but today, marks the company’s 100th ANNIVERSARY, so we thought we’d finally take this opportunity to share the story.
100 years ago, and exactly to the day on April 1st, 1922, HOLOGATE was founded by Erik Ole Petersen, the Great Grandfather of HOLOGATE’s present CEO, Leif Arne Petersen.
Erik Ole Petersen was the inventor of the HOLOSCOPE, which was based on the cast iron, hand cranked “flip book” that was viewed through a viewer with a hood at the top and typically found in arcades, parlors, and movie theaters. The issue he saw with the competitor’s similar devices is that their’s could only be viewed by a single person at a time. Erik Ole Petersen set out to make his experience, multi-person, a shared social experience, and immersive.
Erik Ole Petersen
Through family and friends, he was able to raise enough money to build four HOLOSCOPES. He then soldered them all together to form a single compact unit and loaded all four HOLOSCOPES with the same experience of “flip cards”. When he had up to four customers, he would do a countdown and have all of the customers start turning the crank at exactly the same time, at exactly the same speed. The result? All four of the customers would have a shared social experience. They would shriek, laugh, and cry, all at the same moment…and the shared immersive experience was born!
Holoscope
To further enhance the experience, Erik Ole Petersen and three of his employees would stand behind each customer to add synchronized effects through water spritzers, hand fans, and grabbing the shoulders of each customer to shake them at the most dramatic moments.
HOLOSCOPE premiered the ‘Nosferatu’ experience, which had been simultaneously released in theaters. Another first.
We would like to raise a glass to our HOLOGATE Founder, Erik Ole Petersen on this 100 year anniversary who was the forefather, not just for HOLOGATE, but of the multiplayer immersive experiences that we enjoy today!
We wish you all a HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!
Your Hologate Family
