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 

Cost of Commuting & Videoconferencing

Grant's Perspective on ... the cost of commuting to and from home and work and building a case for videoconferencing.

The Inland AV website just posted a cool application that provides an approximate cost of commuting to and from work. It is really easy and fast. Just enter in the currency that you want to use (US Dollar, British Pound or the Euro, sorry the Canadian version is not yet available), enter in your cost for fuel, the fuel efficiency of your vehicle and the distance traveled.

The results show the financial and environmental cost of commuting.

Registration is not required, give it a try!

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