Washington - The US television news network CNN debuted a new camera technology that "beamed" one of its correspondents into its central election studio a la Star Wars.

Reporter Jessica Yellin's image was transmitted Tuesday night from Chicago and appeared as a holographically projected image in New York.

Moderator Wolf Blitzer spoke with Yellin's image in a first-of-its-kind transmission that is to be used to broadcast other CNN correspondents and interview subjects from Chicago, where the Democratic candidate Senator Barack Obama's campaign is watching Tuesday's election returns roll in, and in Phoenix, where Republican candidate Senator John McCain is headquartered.

Yellin appeared in the New York studio with luminous contours that Blitzer said reminded him of the projection of Princess Leia in the 1997 science-fiction movie Star Wars. (dpa)