Mar

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Telepresence for a few dollars?

March 12, 2008 | |

An interesting article by Tim Greene in Network World that says adding telepresence-like features doesn’t mean ripping out videoconferencing gear. He quotes Ira Weinstein, from Wainhouse Research:

You don’t have to spend $200,000 to get good image quality. You don’t have to spend $170,000 to get a panoramic view. You can do this much less expensively. Instead, companies already using videoconference equipment can selectively upgrade it to boost the illusion that participants are all in the same room, which is one of the main goals of telepresence.

This is of great interest to my present doctoral studies into the experience of telepresence and what level of equipment is needed. My opinion is still out, but I suggest you read the comments that have been made by others.

Read the article.


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1 Comment so far

  1.    niggle on March 12, 2008 8:15 pm

    I think you have to take this article with a criticle eye.

    Yes, you can buy better speakers and microphones, but if your audio and video have to pass through a 384kbps pipe, you will only be able to amplify your “tin box” sound more.

    A great deal of the perceived quality of a videoconference is in your bandwidth.

    Telepresence also offers the “immersive” aspect and the “one button ease of use”, which a traditional videoconference doesn’t offer (or not as much). Also the placement of the camera’s, to reduce the gaze angle as much as possible.

    In the end, Telepresence is all about the experience, and will a buy depend on the fact if the customer is willing to invest that amount of money on this experience. Or if he is happy with “less”.

    It’s like the article says: videoconference is flexibility, telepresence is consistency.

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