Then Mr. Bosland was told of the Bhut Jolokia, or ghost pepper, a variety grown in remote Assam, India, that was being studied by the Indian army for use in grenades.

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For the projection aspect, a San Diego company called AV Concepts used a variation of a visual effect that was discovered in the 19th century, known as Pepper's Ghost.

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"Pepper's ghost" isn't the sort of phrase you hear very often at a show like SXSW. In amongst all the latest generation technology, there aren't too many folks discussing hundreds years old optical concepts.

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One difference: In the Victorian era, Pepper's Ghost was normally used to reflect actual, physical objects or actors, making them appear "dimensional" in ways that the projected or computer-generated imagery typically used today do not.

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The effect was first used in an 1862 dramatization of Charles Dickens' novella "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, " staged at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in London, according to Jim Steinmeyer, an illusion designer who has written extensively about the history of his craft, including Pepper's Ghost.

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Ghost chili or Naga Jolokia chili is the hottest chili pepper on the planet.

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