Microsoft Eyes Future of Teleconferencing with RoundTable

I've tracked the development of RoundTable for some time. As technologists, we tend to emphasize the tools and technologies that handle virtual collaboration but often we forget than people interact a great deal in a face-to-face manner. We do little to help people capture, organize, share etc this type of collaboration and exchange of know-how. Microsoft's OneNote is an example but these types of tools typically don't receive a lot of strategic attention. That's unfortunate. We need to support not only virtual collaboration through tools such as web conferencing but F2F interaction and the obvious hybrid scenarios.

Microsoft researchers felt sure they could come up with one – an audio/video device that’s mobile, simple to operate and costs much less than expensive video conferencing systems. Now, Microsoft aims to deliver on all three of these original design goals with Microsoft Office RoundTable, a device scheduled to debut by mid-year 2007. It combines the features of a speakerphone with those found in videoconferencing into a device that Microsoft expects will retail for less than US$3,000.

Source: Microsoft Eyes Future of Teleconferencing with RoundTable: Technology developed by Microsoft Research matures into a product that is scheduled to debut by mid-2007, providing businesses an alternative to business trips or expensive conventional audio/video conferencing systems.

Another company that has an interesting tool in the area of F2F capture is Quindi. Brainshark (with a somewhat different focus) has been another pathfinder in this area for some time. Recently, Group Systems extended its collaborative decision-making solution into the area of real-time interaction through a Sametime 7.5 plug-in.

Given the growing interest in social software tools that emphasize rich media, I'm sure other vendors will be popping into this space. The business equivalent of Tivo (think of it as a DWR "digital workplace recorder"), is not all that far away. The notion of capturing literally everything is already underway at Microsoft Research with interesting social and privacy implications.

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[Alain Marchildon]

360 Panomorph optics is currently used in video-surveilance applications. It will soon enhance significantly the panoramic images in the video-conferencing domains...