Telepresence, Video Conferencing and Distance Education

I've come across more news about telepresence and video conferencing lately. The technology is getting better, and businesses are finding that this provides a great way to save money and time.

Here are some videos and pictures from the Telepresence Options Network about ways large displays are used in a variety of settings.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Tata Communications are installing telepresence meeting suites in a variety of settings.  Public rooms can connect with public rooms anywhere, any time.

For more information, see the Tata Communications website.

RELATED
Polycom Touch Control Provides Unprecedented Telepresence Ease of Use

Here is an excerpt from the promotional materials:

"Providing a user experience similar to industry-leading mobile devices (like smart phones, mp3 players, etc.), the Polycom Touch Control's seven-inch color screen allows casual and power users to easily navigate key functions from basic dialing and content sharing, to advanced features using finger gestures to touch and slide universally recognizable icons and navigate intuitive arrows and tabs. The graphical interface makes it easy for users to locate contacts and dial video calls using a corporate directory, local address book, or presence-enabled contact list. The Polycom Touch Control also makes it easy for anyone (even visitors without network access) to share content during a video call or to present content using the room's audio/visual systems during a non-video meeting.  Multiple content sharing methods are available with Touch Control to allow users to quickly and easily share content using the integrated USB ports."

Polycom Delivers Breakthrough Video Quality Innovation that Cuts Telepresence Bandwidth Requirements in Half
"Through coding efficiency innovations, Polycom's support for H.264 High Profile will deliver breakthrough video performance at any bandwidth, including full-motion HD video quality starting at just 512 kbps, and full-motion DVD-quality SD video starting as low as 128 kbps."
Polycom: Immersive Telepresence
Polycom: Room Telepresence
Polycom: Personal Telepresence


The Human Productivity Lab is hosting the Inter-Company Telepresence and Videoconferencing Conference and Working group on Thursday, April 22, 2010, in Reston, Virginia.


Whitepaper:  Telepresence, Effective Visual Collaboration and the Future of Global Business at the Speed of Light (Howard S. Lichtman)

Other telepresence companies:


Teliris
Informata Communications
Verizon Video Conferencing
Nortel Telepresence
Glowpoint
Polycom
TelePresence Tech (2D and 3D Telepresence)
LifeSize (logitech)
Masergy
BT Conferencing
Vidyo
Hai Vision, Hai Vision Education
OGCP Telepresence

Several high schools in my school district have distance learning sites. I noticed that Polycom video encoders are part of the package. The following is information from the UCPS Distance & Online Learning website:

"In Union County Public Schools, distance learning students are located in traditional classrooms throughout the district's high school distance learning sites, connected via conferencing to a teacher and students located in a distant classroom (the host/sending site).

Our distance learning labs feature modern Polycom equipment designed to enhance students' learning experiences. Our distance learning classrooms include:

	3-42" NEC plasma displays, 1serving as a rear monitor
	Polycom video encoder
	2 PowerCam cameras
	LCD Projector
	Digital presenter/document camera
	Laptop
	DVD/VHS combo device
	two-way audio microphones
	Internet access and network support I'll share more about this topic in future posts.

Thorsten Blum and Johann Korndörfer's Multi-touch 360 Sphere for Art Installations- and Space Invaders!

I came across the Multi-touch 360 project today and I thought it would be the best surface for a prototype I worked on a couple of years ago. Multi-touch 360 would be great for travel planning and teaching geography. I could see one of these interactive spheres in the lobby of every cruise ship!

This


on this!

The Multi-touch 360 project is the work of Thorsten Blum and Johann Korndorfer, based on their previous work on the Space Invader's 360 game, featured later in this post. It is similar to Microsoft's Sphere project.

Multi-Touch 360 First Tests Video:




Picture Collage of Multi-Touch 360 In Process:

Multi-Touch Materials Research

SPACE INVADERS 360 VIDEO

SPACE INVADERS 360


Space Invaders 360: An Interactive Multplayer Gaming Installation That Makes You Move (pdf)
MindTrek 2008 October 6-9, 2008, Tampere, FINLAND ACM

ABSTRACT "Space Invaders 360 is a tribute to the video game Space Invaders designed by Tomohiro Nishikado in 1978. While the original version is a two-dimensional arcade shooter game, we have created an interactive gaming installation combin-ing the fun and thrill of the classic video game with experimental concepts of display technologies and new ways of user interaction.
Beside the technical aspects we also want to discuss the social aspects of our work. How does the gameplay change in the 21st century? What new ways of user interaction can be thought of? The success of Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS [7] shows the interest of professional and casual gamers in new methods of user interaction. While the last decades have been dominated by video games on fixed screens, over- sized gamepads and realistic graphics, gamers are now moving towards video gaming with a focus on physical interaction."


Thorsten maintains another blog, which is worth a look. I like the links he posts:

• Better Programmer Art
• How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days
• A Global Phenomenon: Andersson and Judd on Capcom/GRIN’s Bionic Commando
• The Megatrends of Game Design, Part 3

More about Microsoft's Sphere prototype:

"Our prototype device builds on a commercially available globe projection system (Global Imagination’s Magic Planet). We have added touch-sensing capabilities with an infrared camera that shares the optical path with the projector. This novel configuration permits us to enclose both the projection and the sensing mechanism in the base of the device and allows for easy 360 degrees access to the device and high degree of interactivity without shadowing or occlusion problems. We have also developed a custom graphics projection pipeline that solves the distortion problems and enables projected data to be correctly visualized on the curved surface.

The applications developed for Sphere currently include a picture and video browser, interactive globe visualization, finger painting, globe visualization, and an omni-directional video-conferencing application (360 degree panoramic video from Microsoft RoundTable device). These applications are designed for highly interactive public space environments (e.g., museums, lobbies, information booths) and highlight the appeal of the device as well as its visualization and interaction capabilities." Hrvoje Benko, Andy Wilson, Ravin Balakrishnan, Billy Chen

Note: Microsoft's RoundTable 360 video conferencing application is now known as the Polycom CX5000 Unified Conference Station, optimized for the Microsoft Office Communicator. More information can be found on the Polycom website.


Microsoft's Sphere