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

TANDBERG Telepresence at InfoComm

Grant's Perspective on ... the TANDBERG Telepresence booth at InfoComm.

When I was at InfoComm earlier in June I had the opportunity to visit the TANDBERG booth.  At their booth they had a demo telepresence suite set up, very similar to the one shown below.

One purpose of this was to allow vendors and potential vendors the opportunity to experience telepresense for themselves.  I unfortunately missed the booth tour that was scheduled for Inland AV.  I tried to get in other times but I wasn’t able to get through the crowds.

BUT what I did notice every time I was in the vicinity of the booth was many people coming out of the demo system nodding their heads - they obviously had a very positive experience when attending a meeting in the telepresence environment.  I also watched through the side window and it was also obvious the attendees, from their behavior, were comfortable in the environment and felt it was very easy to communicate.


I was able to demo the EX-90 Personal Telepresence system and it was excellent. I have posted a picture below that Tim took of the EX-90 display.

View the TANDBERG See Hello to Video below

The TANDBERG booth was a perfect example of "Improved Communication from Technology Integration . . .  and a lot of other cool stuff too !"

Grant 

Lounge to Videoconference Classroom

Grant's Perspective on ... turning a lounge into a videoconference classroom.

I was working on-site yesterday at a local university. We were going through the final audio tests making sure the system was working as planned. Everything went well and as I was ready to leave I surveyed the room and commented on how the room has changed in the last two months. What had been a "smoking" lounge (back when those types of things were allowed) has been transformed into a distance education classroom for nursing students.



It is amazing what positive change can happen with a little help from technology. Nursing students in Winnipeg will have some of their lectures delivered from a professor in Ottawa.

System Overview:

- HD Tandberg videoconference system.
- Additional Vaddio HD camera.
- Two 65" Sharp HD monitors (pictured) as well as an third ceiling mounted monitor for the podium presenter.
- Podium and wireless microphones for the presenter and a boundary microphone system for the students.
- Large 12" AMX touch screen panel that controls the videoconference system, audio system, DVD player, computer systems and room lighting. See the close up picture of the AMX touch screen below. Note that the picture of me in the top right hand is the HD camera focused on the podium.




I can't wait for the school year to start and see the technology in action. Another case of "Improved Communication from Technology Integration . . . and a lot of other cool stuff too !"

Grant

Videoconferencing Return On Investment Calculator

Grant's Perspective on ... visiting Alberta and Saskatchewan virtually

Videoconferencing (VC) technology is more valuable than ever.

There are many advantages to videoconferencing and right now VC has become more valuable than ever. Typically, and simply put, in times of recession companies generally decrease costs where they can and increase training and education. We've all seen that. Facilitating VC is a resource that achieves both and I am witnessing its increased popularity from a front row seat. I help clients by designing AV systems that more often than not include a VC system and I use them in my own day-to-day work.

I think about my area of expertise and how I use VC everyday to be able to effectively communicate with my other offices (Inland AV has a TANDBERG Video Conference suite in each branch - I use it on a regular basis). Working face-to-face in a VC setting is far more effective than talking on the telephone. While I can't be in 5 different cities in 1 day, I can use the VC system and meet face-to-face with staff to discuss our projects and share design details. The company likes the superior communication and I love the fact that I'm home to have dinner with my family. As the recession comes to an end, VC will be equally important as it will help me cover Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta while never being more than half an hour from home!

See the photo below of a design session with our Edmonton office. Barry and I are talking to Chris (Edmonton general manager) while we discuss a room layout that is pictured in the second HD monitor of the VC system.



Has everyone done the ROI (Return On Investment) calculation that is found on the Inland AV website? www.videoconferenceROI.ca

I did my own ROI calculation . The results are just as expected – it does save companies loads of money and increases productivity.