You've probably seen the series of commercial for ūmi telepresencefeaturing Ellen Page. In one, she's trying to learn how to play the spoons. In another, she's engaging in a tea party. The one I like the best is when she tries to "telepresently" converse with her friend, Steve. From what I can tell from the commercials and the Cisco website, I think that the ūmi is a much better option than the video phones that have been brought to market over the past two years!
If you want to be telepresent, and if you have $599.00, you can add a ūmi to your cart while visiting the CISCO ūmi telepresencewebsite. With free shipping and a 30-day return policy, why not try it? If your friends and relatives have a laptop and Google Chat, you can still use your ūmi with them. (My hunch is that the experience is much better if both parties have a ūmi.)
It might cost a bit more than $599.00 to get your ūmi up and running. First of all, you'll need to have an HDTV with an HDMI input port, with a resolution of 1080p, or 720p. You also need to have a top-tier broadband connection to the Internet if you have a 1080p HDTV, which requires a minimum of 3.5 Mbps upload/download speed. If you have a 720p HDTV, you'll need a minimum of 1.5 Mbps upload and download speed.
FYI: I connect to the Internet from my computer on the second floor of my home via a wireless router, located on the first floor. My upload speed is just 0.965 Mbps, which is not fast enough for the ūmi. My download speed is 8.991 Mbps, which is more than I need. I checked Time Warner Cable and found out that they now offer Wideband, with download speeds up to 50 Mbps, with upload speed up to 5 Mbps. If I really, really want a ūmi, I'll have to solve this problem with Time Warner/Roadrunner.
The following video has a short discussion of TV UI and usability testing- they tossed a bag of rice at the TV to simulate a cat jumping at the screen....
In the Lab: The Innovators Behind Cisco ūmi
Below are a couple of videos about the ūmi from Cisco's YouTube site:
This viral ad from T-Mobile gives a glimpse of how music in a public space, a small crowd of dancers, and YouTube, can bring a smile to over 11,771,896 viewers. (My guess is that many of video's views were repeat views, because I immediately pressed "replay" after the first go-round.)
Apparently a real flash mob congregated at the Liverpool Station a month after the T-Mobile ad was filmed:
I guess this concept has been spreading in the UK. The following video was taken in Trafalgar Square, with 13,000 people singing karaoke:
The flash-mob dancing and singing in public places brought back a memory of a video clip I came across a few years ago of a "faux" dance happening at a mall during the late 1990's. The video was set to Fat Boy Slim's "Praise You". It turns out that Spike Jonze, the man behind the upcoming film of Maurice Sendak's story Where the Wild Things Are, was involve in the creation of the video.
Enjoy!
RELATED: Spike Jonze Unmasked Arizona State University's ArtsWork Arts Education Center Website: Interactive Gateway: Dance, an 8-unit curriculum for high school students that explore the art and culture of the 1960's.
"Students will improvise and choreograph dances structured by chance methods, sports, games, political issues, surroundings, everyday gestures and the manipulation of objects. Through these investigations students realize that in the 1960’s, dance was redefined to include everyday people, everyday movement, indeterminacy, and alternative spaces" Lesson 7. Anytime, Anywhere, Anything Unit of Study: Interactive Gateway Theme: Redefining Dance As Happening Anytime, Anywhere, Including Any Movement Sub theme: Happenings Grades: 9-12th grade
