Vizitant

New York Times video-calling feature focuses on grandparents

The New York Times this week gave a big boost to the uptake of video-calling in a feature entitled - "Grandma's on the computer screeen". There are so many touching passages in Amy Harmon's article that I could quote at length here but it's best to read the webpage in full. Here were the highlights for me -

“We would be strangers to them if we didn’t have the Web cam,” said Susan Pierce, 61, of Shreveport, La., who will be a virtual attendee at Thanksgiving dinner with her grandchildren in Jersey City this year.

Over the last year, Ms. Pierce and her husband watched Dylan, 17 months, learn to walk and talk over the Web cam, and witnessed his 4-year-old sister Kelsie’s drawings of people evolve from indeterminate blobs to figures with arms and fingers and toes.

Many grandparents find that the Web cam eases the transition during in-person visits, when grandchildren may refuse to sit on their laps or may reject their hugs because they do not recognize them. As one Web cam evangelist wrote on her blog, www.nanascorner.com: “You’ll be able to pick up where you left off without those warming up to you, awkward moments.”

On Ms. Pierce’s most recent visit to New Jersey last month, for instance, Dylan called out the nickname he uses for her over the Web cam, “Buffy!” and jumped into her arms. “It melted my heart,” Ms. Pierce said.

As much as I've to explain the benefits of video-calling to people who've never exerpienced it I've never been able to say it as perfectly as that.

Make sure to watch the video embedded in the New York Times page where you can see how the Pierce family bridge a 1,400 mile geographical separation using video calling. Interesting statistics mentioned include the fact that 20 million people worldwide have made a video call in the last month, and there's been 20% growth in video calling over the last year.

AiGuru Skype Video phone - initial review

Image via Wikipedia

My Asus AiGuru SV1 Skype Videophone (what a mouthful) arrived on Friday and I was able to make an initial assessment over the weekend. Unfortunately it's been having problems maintaining a wireless connection with the broadband router so I wasn't quite able to put it through its paces but suffice to say, once Asus have sorted out the software bugs, the AiGuru will make a terrific video-calling device.

What makes it special is the intuitive menu system and controls. There's no need to master a computer interface - it boots directly into Skype. And there's no need to figure out a keyboard and mouse - the mobile phone -like D-pad does it all (well nearly). I got a 7-year old and 70-year old to give it a go and they were both able to make and receive video calls, without difficulty, after a few moments instruction.

Once I've sorted out the technical problems, which I suspect will merely require a firmware update, I'll post a full assessment. In the meantime, San Francisco based French entrepreneur Loic Le Meur has posted a video review to his blog (see below). It's exciting to see people realizing the family use of video-calling and Loic gives the example of his son making a ginger bread house while his grandparents, thousands of miles away in France, were able to watch along.

Thank you Skype for the videophone my kids love it see

Asus Eee Top touchscreen emphasizes live video communications

The Asus Eee Top touchscreen PC was officially launched today, and a stylish looking gadget it is too. I've got to say the TV commercial (below) really appeals to me in it's depiction of the computer as a lifestyle device, with a heavy emphasis on live video communication (in particular the collaborative cake making session between a geographically separated grandmother and grand-daughter).

With touchscreen capability and wireless peripherals I expect the Eee Top to get the Vizitant seal of approval as an excellent video calling choice.

Holographic dancing partners

Germany's RTL News channel posted a video of holographic dancing which is much more impressive than the pseudo-holographic trickery from CNN (below).

Skype Videophone now available for pre-order

The Asus Skype Videophone, or AiGuru SV1, is now available for pre-order at the hefty price of €269.95 incl. VAT. Considering you could buy a basic (and much more versatile) netbook for the same money it really needs to be slick in operation to justify that price tag. And judging by the online demo the jury's still out on that.

Google launches video chat - a competitor for Skype?

In my latest post to EirePreneur I examine the significance of the launch of Video for Google chat - "the fact that Google is now putting it's massive resources behind a large scale deployment of VidyoRouter means it's not only gunning for Skype but inevitably for Cisco."

Holopresence to replace telepresence? Not quite yet.

In tech circles it seems there's been more talk about CNN's pseudo-holography trick on American election night than about Obama's victory. The news channel used 35 HD cameras to simulate a holographic experience by 'beaming' correspondent Jessica Yellin into studio. Or so it appeared to the TV audience.

But of course they didn't actually show the 3D image in the studio with host Wolf Blitzer - it was just green-screened to appear that way. So holopresence isn't going to replace telepresence anytime soon but it does serve to fire the imagination and point towards the future. See the video below.

Multi-touch control for Windows 7 - can it kill the mouse?

One of the biggest issues for Vizitant is interface usability. Our users will generally be computer novices such that every click extra is a click too many*. We need interaction to be drop-dead simple. And we're very hopeful that touchscreen control can be a big part of that.

GottaBeMobile demonstrates the the multi-touch possibilities in Microsoft's upcoming replacement for Vista, courtesy of a 3rd-party app running pre-beta N-Trig drivers on a pre-beta Windows 7 build. And while the results are disappointing for now it's got to be remembered that there's a long way to go until the end of 2009. And there's certainly a lot of promise here. Of course multi-touch won't kill the mouse for all computer users but it may well do so for our subset.

* I used to give one-to-one tutorials in computers for beginners. I learned a lot about how much knowledge seasoned computer users take for granted during one particular lesson where it took about 40 minutes to teach a middle-aged lady how to use the mouse. She started by picking it up and waving it in the air and then took quite some time to master the action of moving it forward in a smooth motion, without tilting and lifting the ball from the mat. Far from being baffled by the difficultly she had I realized that the way she was trying to use the mouse was informed by her use of a TV remote control - a very natural approach from someone who'd never even observed a computer mouse being used up to that point.

Demonstrations at Drumcollogher Respite Centre

Last Sunday Drumcollogher Respite Centre, in Co. Limerick, held an open day for the public. As Drumcollogher is our pilot area for Vizitant this was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the video calling system to the elderly and their carers.

Happily we had no technical hitches and the demos went well, impressing more than a few people on the day. As a result we expect to make our first residential installation this week.