Imagine walking the warehouse floor without leaving your office. You glance to your left and there’s your shift supervisor, appearing in front of you as a lifelike 3D projection. To your right, a supplier dials in from overseas, standing in the aisle as though they’d just walked through the roller door. Sound futuristic? It might be closer than you think.
The Next Step Beyond Video Calls
We’ve all grown used to Teams and Zoom, but hologram technology promises to take remote collaboration a step further. Advances in augmented reality (AR) and 3D projection are making it possible to see people not just on a flat screen, but in the room with you. Companies like Microsoft, Meta and several start-ups are already trialling holographic meeting platforms, where participants are captured in real time and projected as near life-size images.
Walking the Floor Without Being There
For warehouse managers, the potential is huge. Instead of scrolling through CCTV feeds or waiting on reports, managers could “walk” the warehouse floor virtually, inspect pallet stacks, observe workflows and even interact with staff. Remote specialists could “drop in” instantly to diagnose equipment problems or review safety procedures, without needing to travel onsite.
This kind of presence could be especially valuable across multi-site operations. One manager could appear in Melbourne in the morning, Brisbane by lunch and Sydney by the afternoon, all without boarding a plane.
More Than Just a Gimmick
Hologram meetings could also reduce miscommunication. In logistics, where every second counts, being able to show rather than tell is powerful. Imagine a holographic training session where new staff see proper lifting techniques demonstrated by a life-sized trainer in the warehouse, instead of relying on a 2D video.
It also opens the door to improved global collaboration. Supply chain partners across continents could meet “face to face” in a shared holographic environment, pointing to products, packaging or diagrams as though they were standing around the same table.
The Challenges Ahead
Of course, we’re not there just yet. The technology requires high bandwidth, powerful processing and specialised projection hardware. But with 5G rollouts, edge computing and rapid improvements in AR headsets and holographic displays, the barriers are coming down quickly. The question is no longer if we’ll see hologram meetings in warehouses, but when.
A Glimpse Into Tomorrow
For the supply chain industry, where efficiency, speed and accuracy rule, hologram meetings could be the next leap forward in how teams connect, train and solve problems. They promise a future where distance shrinks, collaboration expands and managers really can be in two places at once.
So next time you’re logging into a video call, just imagine: in a few years, that meeting might not be on your screen. It might be standing right beside you on the warehouse floor.
