Germany's Circus Roncalli has replaced its live animals with holograms to raise awareness of animal cruelty in the industry.

The Circus, which has been touring since 1976, previously featured animals such as elephants and horses performing tricks and stunts for the viewing audience. Now the circus has done away with these animal performances, instead using 3D holograms projected into the ringmaster's circle.

Roncalli's agency, Tag/Traum, worked with installation company Bluebox and Optoma laser projectors to put on a mesmerising sequence within the 32-metre wide (105ft) and 5-metre deep (16ft) circus arena, with holographic "stardust" horses parading and an elephant performing manoeuvres such as headstands.

The laser projectors needed to be high contrast units, delivering 360 degree images, and capable of projecting accurate colours for the 3D effect. Optoma's ZU850 projectors ‒ which have a contrast of 2,000,000:1 ‒ were chosen for the job.

The project was first conceived by Circus Roncalli's founder and director Bernhard Paul. It cost around €500,000 (US$560,000, £445,000) to put together and involved a team of 15 3D designers and software engineers.