Future of AV System Control & Touch Screens

Grant's Perspective on ... the future of audiovisual system control and touch screens.


I came across this Corning video of where they see the future of system control. I really like the "video phone" chat. The "phone" is placed on a table and the screen jumps onto the table so the image can be larger and the whole family can participate in the call (1:48 mark). Control of window tinting and using the bathroom mirror, fridge, counter, car, bus stops and everything at the office as a touch screen and monitor.

If this is really what’s in store for us, then this is cool.

Grant

Telepresence Foreshadowed On Star Trek

Grant's Perspective on ... telepresence foreshadowed on Star Trek.

I was surfing the other night and noticed that howstuffworks.com had a post on "Top 10 Star Trek Technologies that Actually Came True". The Tricoder was number one and telepresence was second on the list.

Below is a photo of a telepresence room. The idea of telepresence is that all participants feel like they are really meeting face-to-face. The photo below illustrates this. The people on the video monitor are at eye level with the other people in the room. The background and lighting are the same so they feel they are in the same room. The audio is ideally stereo and comes from the direction of the person who is on the monitor.

Beam me up Scotty!

Grant

$1.3 Trillion on Business Travel & Videoconferencing

Grant's Perspective on ... radio "Tough Trivia" contest reminds me that videoconferencing can save money.

I was listening to the local 92 CITI FM Winnipeg radio show this morning as I got ready to leave for the office. They have a Tough Trivia contest every weekday morning and today's question was "1.3 trillion dollars is spent on this annually." The winning answer was business travel.

This reminded me of the travel savings that videoconferencing can deliver. I encourage anyone interested in spending less time on the road and/or in the air to look at the online Videoconferencing Business Advantage Calculator to see how much money  they can save (never mind the improved family life!) by using technology.

Videoconferencing Business Advantage Calculator

 Grant

Sharp 60" Touchscreen At Inland AV Winnipeg Show

Grant's Perspective on ... touching the Sharp 60" monitor.

At last week’s New Wave of AV event (Inland AV’s annual Open House) one of the products featured was the Sharp PN-L601B 60" Touchscreen.

This item is a 60” LCD monitor with built in touch screen – a fantastic tool for interactive communication.  It is designed for presentations, meetings, training seminars, videoconferencing, etc, etc, etc.

Pictured below is Mr. Joe Ng from Sharp doing a product demonstration of this unit.  

 

I noticed there was a lot of interest and many questions. It quickly became a common topic of discussion throughout the event.  Some of the topics, in no particular order of popularity, were:

• Everyone liked that it’s a monitor and touch screen all-in-one.
• The unit looks really good and it’s not bulky.
• It’s impressively large yet everything is within arms reach.
• The image quality is amazingly sharp (no pun intended).
• Very bright!  “It’s bright enough to work in our boardroom with the blinds open!”  And on that note, this unit is Mercury Free – no fluorescent tubes. think Green.
• People took note of the energy savings – cool how so many attendees are concerned about this.  This is accomplished by the backlighting (where these units get their light from) done with a full array of LED’s.  That’s where the energy saving comes in as LED’s use way, way, way less energy
• Everyone liked the technology involved in the interactive abilities. There are multiple infrared sensors that detect one infrared LED light in the pen.  This means the system can precisely detect detailed touching points. It also works with your finger!
• Everyone liked the simple and intuitive user interface.  Some mentioned that the folks back at their office would be able to use it with ease, and therefore be more effective in their presentations.  In the photo, on Joe’s left, you can see that Joe moved his selection of favourite tools to the left side of the board.
• It was asked if this unit was shipping now, and it is!

So definitely a winner product – and a one of a kind in the market place.

Thanks to Joe for his stamina with answering all the questions all day.

Grant