Enterprise Technology By Phil Edholm

Older: Changing Corporate and National Cultures
Newer: Is There an Internet Traffic Jam Coming?

VideoConferencing - Going Consumer?

By Phil March 3, 2008 7:46 pm

I was intrigued by the announcement of a Creative Technology Video Conferencing System called InPerson recently. The announcement of this system was of interest on two levels, first that it is essentially a small video player with a camera and the necessary internals to do video conferencing, and second that some \ continue to mis-understand the value of video in a business setting. While most video systems are going upscale in terms of size and bandwidth to more directly equal the face-to-face experience, this is a move down below the PC. While it is larger than the Nortel video phones, it still lacks the size and capability to meet the needs of the "selling" part of the Video Blog 2 from last year (Video Blog 1 was about how humans communicate). I believe the next big market in video is in the fringes (selling and Grandma) of the charts. In the selling arena it becomes a logical extension of Facebook and YouTube into the combined real-time introductory domain and then extended to seeing those you have relationships with. This had a lot of interest in Japan, but never took off in the west. Perhaps now with iPhones and equivalents it will take off. However, it is not a business service and will not garner $1,000 plus as the device cost.

So, I wonder if this is less a business product than a consumer niche, but the price point makes that problematic. I believe that most business people who would use video at this level already own a PC and could use that.

Finally, I found it interesting that the InPerson device got one thing right...the camera is on the bottom of the display screen!!!!! For those of us that are follicularly challenged, not having the camera on the top of the monitor minimizes the inevitable glare........PC makers take note, with the aging of the population, making the camera friendly to us is critical.....

Categories: Video, Unified Communications, Technology Trackbacks (0)

Tags: No Tags

Comments

  1. Very interesting. I spend a lot of time in this market segment. This will not be an appealing device for the business community because it’s a redundant device. The PC manufacturers are rolling out embedded video cameras across an increasing percentage of their portfolios. The idea of purchasing another device and having to lug it around is problematic.

    I think this company has recognized that the market for specialized solutions and devices is upon us, but where they went wrong - IMHO - is to then build a device with the same form factor as a laptop. They need to assume that everyone has a laptop and then figure out how to complement that with a new form factor that adds enough additional value to make it worth buying.

    Oh…and this is way too expensive for the general consumer market. It’s twice the price of a high end PS3 or Xbox which will both have all kinds of video capabilities as soon as there is evidence of demand. And PS3 and Xbox is where gramma will find her grandkids. Somebody build a cheap device that can participate in the Xbox Live community and it will sell.

    March 4th, 2008 at 8:47 pm by Another Nortel Watcher

  2. But the camera position is right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    March 4th, 2008 at 8:58 pm by Phil

  3. People who are weight challenged with multiple chins will not like that alternate position. No, the best position for the camera is in the middle of the display, but we don’t have he technology to ‘look from behind the one-way mirror’ yet with laptop displays.

    And remember, current placements makes it look to those you are sending video to that you are ‘looking up’. Educated interrogators will tell you that’s a sign of accessing memory recall in the brain. Looking down is a signal that the brain is not focused on memory recall, and therefore is a sign of possible deception. So many points to consider.

    March 6th, 2008 at 10:42 am by Another Nortel Watcher

  4. Interesting comments that the position of the camera has an impact on how you appear (engaged/deceitful/etc.). Obviously having the camera in the center of the screen is most desireable.

    I actually did some thinking about the challenges of putting a camera in the middle of an LCD display awhile back. The challenges are how to have sufficient space for the camera to “see through” the screen elements. In the Polycom Telepresence room the camera is in the middle between 2 HD screens. Not sure how you would do this on an LCD screen without having a visual artifact in the screen.

    I wonder if it is possible to use the screen in a dual mode where the screen itself could become a camera. Lot’s of interesting concepts when you think down this path.

    March 6th, 2008 at 1:38 pm by Phil

  5. I do a lot of video calls from my computer and am doing a lot of work on the video communications experience. To experiment with camera placement, we acquired a very small camera and fixed it to the center of a large 24″ display (to make the visual impact of the camera relatively minimal) with a thin camera cable running vertically to the top. The experience was an improvement over border-mounted cameras but we found that camera position is of course just part of the problem. Screen layout design is just as critical. You want the eyes to be looking at the camera as much as possible, so when you divide the screen(s) up, it’s best to put the center of attention as close to the camera as possible, and this arrangement needs to be somewhat dynamic…but not too dynamic. Video is coming but the ergonomics of it are still in the infancy stage. Polycom and Cisco are simply applying better cameras and monitors to an 80s or 90s video conferencing setup. They can do better. Hint: ask your friends in Seoul about your last point.

    March 6th, 2008 at 4:05 pm by Another Nortel Watcher

  6. I prefer Polycom and Cisco and they are simply applying better cameras.
    http://www.live-conferencing.com/

    March 12th, 2008 at 2:49 am by Lafeeu

  7. Ia agree that basic video conferencing is just getting better, the Telepresence concept of mirroring the space is better. Refer back to the video posts in the file as it is interesting in that concept to define when they are needed. I think there is an incredible generational difference, old folks are used to face to face and a handshake (don’t torch me, I am technically an old guy), while the younger generation is much more comfortable with a text and a cell phone video….

    March 19th, 2008 at 4:29 pm by Phil

Leave a Reply