Vizitant

RTE News report on Telepresence (advanced video calling)

On the Six One RTE News, last Friday 20th March (video available), environment correspondent Paul Cunningham visits Cisco offices in Dublin to sample high-end video-calling. Taking a chair in a rather plush meeting room Cunningham intones - "first there was the telephone, then there was the television, meet the next technology; Telepresence". As he does so the camera pans around to the other side of the boardroom table where a Cisco representative in the Galway office bids him a good morning. In such glorious high-definition video and stereo audio, it's as if he were actually sitting in the same room.

Cunningham explains, "Telepresence is an advanced teleconferencing technology which Cisco has installed in all of it's international offices. Because it's just like having a face-to-face meeting telepresence has slashed Cisco's travel budget."

Later in the segment Minister Eamon Ryan participates in an interview through the same telepresence system. And wrapping up back in the newsroom studio Una O'Hagan tells us that the telepresence technology we saw in the report will be available within two years. I have my doubts that it will be in any way affordable at that time but there's no doubting the general trend towards telepresence in the home.

Minister Ryan tries out Telepresence

Saturday's Irish Times carried a story about Minister Eamon Ryan's meeting with Cisco executives in the United States where he learned about the environmental benefits of video-calling -

"Senior executives from Cisco gave Mr Ryan a demonstration of its own high-tech Telepresence system at its San Jose headquarters. Mr Ryan participated in a teleconference with executives in Herndon, Virginia and also in Galway, where Cisco has a centre of excellence and employs 200 people, mostly on the high-value RD side. Cisco says it has reduced travel by half in the company."

Remote video monitoring over the internet

Until now it has been notoriously difficult for the average person (read: non-techie) to install and configure video cameras for monitoring remote locations over the internet. But it looks like Vue is about to change all that will their highly innovative, user-friendly and affordable camera networks. In the video below they even moot the usage that crossed my mind - independent living for the elderly.

Limerick Leader covers Vizitant launch at Respite Center

Last week's Limerick Leader had a story about the 5th annual sponsored walk in aid of Drumcollogher Respite Center and the launch of the Vizitant video-calling service -

"Last Sunday was a special day at the centre for a different reason also. It was the first time that many people had seen the use of leading edge technology which the centre now has available so that people on respite visits to Dromcollogher can maintain contact with their families back home – not just by telephone, but by live video link. And the software that has been developed by a Knockaderry man ensures that it is so user-friendly that even people who are unused to modern technology can enjoy it.

By use of technology, such as Skype, which allows telephone calls over the internet, the respite centre can be linked to other computers in the same way as video conferencing is done between boardrooms. If a family does not have a modern computer at home with webcam and broadband, a simple attachment can be lent so that even old machines can be brought up to standard. And the company which is promoting the use of such technology, Vizitant.com is a not-for-profit operation.

"Our first successful installation is at Dromcollogher, but I would also wish to put it into nursing homes where people have longer stays than is the case with a respite home," Corbett said.

"The cost of equipment is cheap and becoming cheaper, and it is just a matter of getting it across to people that the technology is already here and available and ready to use," he added.

Holographic telepresence impresses

Victor Keegan of the Guardian got to conduct an interview via hologram and was suitably impressed -

"After a short while I simply forgot that [he] wasn't there but in another part of the building (he could have been in Tokyo), just being beamed in for the occasion. And looking back on it, I am not completely sure which was the hologram and which wasn't – so it passes [a test] for authenticity. It was an even more immersive experience than Telepresence, the high-definition video conferencing that impressed me last year... the mind boggles at the possibilities. Friends and relatives abroad... could be as if in your front room."

Elsewhere, the Australian Federal Government is deploying Cisco's Telepresence solution across government offices.

"The Federal government is displaying foresight and leadership by implementing this system, as it sets an example in terms of enhanced collaboration, increased productivity and efficiency and a decreased impact on the environment," said Les Williamson, vice president, Cisco A/NZ. "These are benefits that can be enjoyed by the public and private sector alike."