| |
"Beam Me Up" --
Tele-Immersion:
The Next Generation of Video Conferencing
©2001 Corbin Ball Associates
Think of the classic scene in "StarWars" where the robot R2D2 projects a shimmering small holographic image of Princess Lea pleading for Obi-Wan's help to save the world.
Now, instead, imagine the princess in life size, in full color, and high resolution sitting across the table from you, eye-to-eye, interacting with you.
This is where videoconferencing is going.
Videoconferencing prices have plunged over the past few years with the advances
in computer technology and the advent of high-bandwidth telephone and Internet lines in the office. However, there are limitations. Videoconferencing today is like watching the remote person on television. Although you can hear the person and see the non-verbal gestures and cues, it is not really like sitting across the table from the person. People
sometimes feel uncomfortable on camera and feel disconnected from the people shown on the screen. It is also impossible to make direct eye contact, because the camera and the display screen are not in the same spot.
This is about to change with several new technology developments.
Teleportec (www.teleportec.com)
Teleportec has cleverly figured out a way to project a human image behind a desk, a lectern or even on a stage to give the appearance that the person is sitting or standing there in real life!
The remote presenter has eye-to-eye contact with the local audience and can interact with and respond to them as if he/she were on the platform. PowerPoint slides and other images can be advanced as if the person was there.
Using ISDN or T1 lines and, ultimately, Internet2* technology, this has the potential to revolutionize one-to-one videoconferences and has enormous potential for presenters and educators as well.
(*Internet2, the next generation of the Internet currently available only in educational and research institutions, is
mush faster and is optimized for the transmission of moving images in real time.)
 
The picture on the left shows a one-to-one "teleported" meeting situation. The picture on the right shows Texas Governor Rick Perry's (right) life-size image being beamed
on stage to an auditorium at the University of Texas at Dallas while he was in Austin. The presentation was fully interactive. An audience member asked the governor
what it was like for him. He replied that he could not reach out and touch the questioner but he could see them and it was like being in the room with the
audience.
Although the current technology provides only two-dimensional images, it is reportedly, very convincing as it is full-color, life size image and there is depth between the image and the background. Sitting in the back, it is very difficult to tell the image from a live presenter.
This has the potential for a huge impact for meetings. High-level keynote speakers can be "beamed" to audiences at a fraction of the cost and time of flying them there directly. Small group or one-to-one videoconferences can become much more lifelike, much more like sitting across the table from each other.
Tele-immersion
Future developments promise even more astounding possibilities.
Researchers at Advanced Network and Services working with a number of universities are working on a truly revolutionary technology called the National Tele-Immersion Initiative - NTII
(www.advanced.org). Tele-immersion is the long-distance transmission of life-size, three-dimensional synthesized scenes and images. It can approximates the illusion that a person is in the same physical space as other people even though the other participants might in fact be hundreds or thousands of miles away. Eventually, it could lead to the Star Trek Holodeck-like
tele-presence in remote locales.
According to Jaron Lanier, known as the father of VR (virtual reality), the sensation and usefulness of tele-immersion are quite different from videoconferencing. "When you render people properly, they feel real. Your sense of their presence, your ability to make eye contact, your ability to convey your mood and respond to theirs is quite solid because they're life-size, three-dimensional stereoscopic graphics, not small, flat video images."
Tele-immersion participants sitting across the desk from each other can work together on virtual objects, for example, placing virtual 3-D model office furniture in a miniature office (see
example below).
Holographic 3-D Workstations
On a smaller scale, Dimensional Media (www.3dmedia.com) is working on three-dimensional, full-color, interactive product imaging. For example, a medical student can use this device to see simulated full-size, three-dimensional color beating heart. The student can then use "virtual scalpels" to perform heart surgery with the look and the tactile feel as if he or she were actually performing the operation. Video clips of this technology can be found that their Web site.
Dimensional media is also working on a whole range of product display modules that have applications in trade shows.
As computer processing power and Internet bandwidth continues to grow, these emerging technologies will have significant impact on how we communicate and meet. We are social animals and desire face-to-face communication. The technologies mentioned are moving the ability into the virtual realm and will likely revolutionize videoconferencing as we know it.
|
