Vizitant

Limerick Leader features Vizitant

The Limerick Leader interviewed us before Christmas for a seasonal article which we've now added to the Press section. The introductory paragraphs follow below -

"At this time of year the plight of lonely, elderly people is keenly felt in Limerick, but an initiative from a local businessman is offering a new high-tech way of staying in touch, writes Nick Rabbitts

CHRISTMAS is traditionally the season for family and togetherness, but there are huge numbers of people in this country whose experience of loneliness and vulnerability is brought sharply in to focus at this time.

Unfortunately, one of the largest groups of people who experience such isolation at Christmas is the elderly, something that caught the attention of one Limerick businessman who has harnessed video technology and the social networking phenomenon to create a unique product which, he hopes, will alleviate the loneliness"

See the Limerick Leader website for the full article. Reading back over it this morning we were reminded just how fortunate we've been this year - winning the support of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, partnering with WTS Broadband, finding a very receptive and caring community in Dromcolloger and making many more friends along the way. Thanks to you all for making 2008 a great year for Vizitant and here's looking forward to a very busy and productive 2009.

Prime time for widescale adoption

Dennis Shiao also read Chris O'Brien's article (about his mother's adoption of Skype for video calling) and says that his family has a....

"... similar arrangement, whereby we ring up my East Coast based parents for weekly Skype video calls (we’re on the West Coast).  It’s great to not only hear from family on a regular basis, but to see them as well - smiles, body language, their latest purchase, the kid’s latest art project, etc.  When our parents’ generation can configure and activate a service (like Skype), then it becomes prime time for widescale adoption."

Video calling is entering the mainstream

Silicon Valley columnist Chris O'Brien suddendly realized that Video Chat has entered the mainstream when, first, he heard that the Oprah show has been using it and, second, his mother started enquiring about it. O'Brien says Video Chat will see...

"... continued growth in the coming years for a couple of reasons. With the economy continuing to sputter, individuals and small businesses are expected to cut way back on travel, and video chat is an increasingly popular alternative.

The other big factor is families. The folks at ooVoo reported a huge surge in traffic over Thanksgiving, and are expecting the same over the coming holidays. And just about everyone I interviewed for this story had a personal tale about how their parents, or the parents of someone they know, has embraced video chat as a way to connect with grandchildren far away."

Asus Eee Top reviews - still looks like a video calling winner

One month ago I gave an early provisional seal of approval to the Asus Eee Top as a video calling terminal. Has that changed now that the reviews are starting to come in?

Absolutely not: Slashgear's minimal nitpicking is related to issues peripheral to video calling requirements - a less than impressive mouse, operating system choice and some user interface quirkiness.

"In the end, though, we’re surprisingly impressed by the Eee Top. As long as you’re not looking for high graphics performance, the Eee Top handles web browsing, office chores and media playback with little complaint. The touchscreen implementation may not be perfect, but it’s certainly usable and the price is far less than HP would ask for a TouchSmart PC.  For the same cost as the Eee Top you could obviously find a higher-spec standard desktop PC, but the ASUS’ design charms, touchscreen and general usability still make it a tempting buy."

So tempting in fact that we'll be getting our hands on one here at Vizitant as soon as we possibly can.

Touchscreen netbooks to become mainstream?

Laptop blog reports that the Intel powered Convertible Classmate PC is approaching a production version, with massive improvements in several areas -

"Sure the Convertible Classmate is meant for children and isn’t a netbook that adults will want to carry around, but its implementation of touch technology on a netbook is what we hope to see from the mainstream netbook vendors that plan to bring touch to the smaller screen. A simplified home screen menu (so you don’t have to dig through XPs menus), preloading touch-optimized software and a speedy accelerometer are some of the Classmate’s solid features that we want to see in adult touch-enabled netbooks."

Indeed I'm a firm believer that this is how all new netbooks will function by 2010. Microsoft and others have been pushing the tablet form-factor for years but the technology is finally maturing just as the ideal format is emerging.

Live 3D teleconferencing (video)

Watch the video below for an amazing display of live 3D teleconferencing using a system developed by Professor Paul Debevec of the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies. As an interesting aside, Mr. Debevec previously developed a famously innovative 'bullet time' camera technique that was used in such Hollywood blockbusters as The Matrix.

His new 3d teleconferencing system uses off-the-shelf video projectors and a fast-spinning mirror to create the illusion of a 3-D image. But don't mistake it for holography - Mr. Debevec is quick to point out the difference between his sytem and the pseudo holography trick used by the CNN channel recently -

"Our system produces a real 3D image you can actually see whereas CNN's 'hologram' was just a video overlay effect done for the home audience with no actual 3D display technology involved."

So, other than looking extremely cool, what’s the point of 3D teleconferencing? Mr. Debevec argues that his system is better than a phone call or a traditional videoconference because users are able to make eye contact, and viewers can tell which way the holographic caller is looking.

“It helps people know whose turn it is to speak and helps people know who’s paying attention,” he said. “Video chats are gaining in popularity, but you don’t usually get accurate eye contact.”

During a recent conference, Mr. Debevec talked with a holographic image of a colleague who was broadcasting from across a convention hall as part of his demonstration -

Oprah show uses Skype Video

Image via WikipediaIt's probably old news to most people but I don't watch Oprah and didn't realize her TV show makes use of Skype-to-Skype Video calling. I'm sure she's getting well paid to do so and this page on her website is sponsored by Skype but it's worth reading for some interesting family scenarios where video calling can be put to use. There's also a video clip demonstrating how it's used in her TV show.

Real world video-calling case studies, and tips

Image by jeff gerhard via FlickrNana Johnson, who was quoted in that fascinating New York Times article from a few days ago, has now published some wonderful follow-up advice for Video Calls with Grandparents and Grandchildren.

In conducting an informal survey among her fellow teachers she learned that...

•  Many of them use it to stay in touch with their parents, siblings, and friends. They all tell me it is easy to use, even for their parents! 
• Mike W., math teacher age 28, actually uses it to check on his grandparents. It gives him ease of mind that he’s able to see his grandparents are in good spirits or sometimes discovers something may be bothering them from his observations during their video call.
• Jonathan S, Programming and Web Development teacher age 33, says his wife who is from Columbia uses it to visit with her mother and brother. They are able to ”visit” with Jonathan’s two little girls often. If it weren’t for Skype, they wouldn’t see them more than once a year.  They do miss the hugs and kisses, but they are grateful for the opportunities to visit often using video calls.
• Val G, uses Skype to visit with her 6 siblings that live in various parts of the world, including Ireland. Her brother and his family arrived for Thanksgiving with their daughter. Val and her niece didn’t have those awkward, get to know you moments because they had been video calling regularly.

And that's not all. Make sure to read the rest of Nana's post which offers some wonderful suggestions for Video Call Fun Activities like playing long distance Copy Cat and Simon Says.

HealthPresence: video calling for remote doctor-patient interaction

The Scottish Centre for Telehealth was set up to promote the development of remote health care. They've used desktop video conferencing for contact between Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and 15 community hospitals for the last 7 years but are now running the first trial in the world of Cisco's HealthPresence system. HealthPresence is a specialized adaptation of Cisco's high-end Telepresence system outfitted with medical diagnostic equipement and configured in a self-contained pod.

Nurses at community hospitals typically call up for a second opinion and the HealthPresence system saves a large number of patients the round trip to Aberdeen. In fact one doctor believes up to 90% of patients presenting out of hours could safely assessed using the HealthPresence pod.

Being able to see patients clearly enables clinical fellow Dr. Karyn Webster to interact and pick up on a patient's mannerisms and she feels very comfortable diagnosing patients using the system. Her colleague also claims that patients really like it because the High Definition video is really clear and lifesize so they feel as if they're in the same room as the doctor.

In an economic climate where resources are increasingly scarce can Cisco's HealthPresence herald a revolution in healthcare?

[Learn more in the video below. You can also watch a video demonstrating how a future version of the pod may look].

Video below