Genuine Joi and Emanator Projection in Blade Runner 2049

A theoretical explanation of how this could work.

I think I've figured out a valid way for Genuine Joi to actually "work" as a hologram in Blade Runner 2049. For those who don’t remember, Genuine Joi is a hologram played by Ana de Armas and can be seen and interacted with by K (Ryan Gosling).

This has bothered since the very first moment of seeing the movie in the theater (Yes, I was one of the thirty people who saw it on the big screen). How does Joi get "projected" when there is nothing to project her?

Joi is transferred from the projection unit in the apartment that does project her to a device called an Emanator. The Emanator obviously does NOT project but... what if it has some sort of circumference brainwave interaction? Anyone within a certain distance of the Emanator can see Joi because the Emanator is affecting their minds and displaying her as if she was really there. She is completely VR and AR in nature, at the same time. As a trick of the mind, the interaction between K and Joi can also make sense too. This is really the only way Joi’s projection and interaction with K can be explained.

The movie is also a million times more enjoyable to me since I worked this out. It was a sticking point that kept bothering me because science fiction should have a technical basis that is plausible in some way. Magic projection doesn’t cut it. Jacking the brainwaves of users within an X number of distance, better. I can work with that.

And of course, you have the actual holographic of Joi (above) which is projected, and then leads K to ponder if Joi is even "real" in this new dynamic in which he wonders if he is even real. All in all, it’s a good movie and definitely a worthy follow up to the original Blade Runner.