Thursday, 7 November 2013

Final Paper

Topic: Video Conference- Evolution and Future.[1]

Aishwarya Mirania Agarwal (miraniaa.2013@business.smu.edu.sg)
1st year student, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University.

Executive Summary


Video conferencing is such a technology, which enables people to communicate with each other, face-to-face, without actually being present there. This paper consists of a description of videoconferencing, its invention and the technology used in this process.

Videoconferencing has evolved and come a long way from its invention, and the development and current use of it has been described further. The use of videoconferencing in education, medical and business sectors has been discussed in detail. Videoconference has environmental benefits as well; it helps to reduce the emission of carbon footprints and various green house gases into the environment by reducing the use of petrol and other polluting gases.

This paper also talks about the trends in the future of videoconferencing as well as the various applications of this technology in the future. Various developments are being made by researchers from different countries on how to further enhance the process of videoconferencing, which makes the future of videoconferencing sound very exciting and interesting.


Why I chose this topic


The concept of video conferencing is a fascinating one as it has literally broken all barriers between people. I am interested to see how this technology will help us further down the road. In the present day, our lives are heavily dependent on technologies. Some technology or the other influences every aspect of our lives. In this paper, I would like to explore the role of video conferencing in our lives and how this amazing invention can help to improve the standard of our living.


Introduction

What is video conferencing?

‘Video Conference is a conference in which participants in different locations are able to communicate with each other in sound and vision’, as defined by the Oxford Dictionaries. (Ref: Definition of videoconference in English). It allows audio and video communication between people with the use of computer networks. Each participant has a video camera, microphone and speakers mounted on his or her computer or phones. Video conferencing allows three or more people to sit together and communicate virtually, as if they were present in the same room. It is sometimes called visual collaboration and it is a form of groupware. AT&T deployed this intermediate form of videotelephony commercially in the United States in the early seventies, as a part of their plan to develop Picturephone Technology. (Videoconferencing, Wikipedia)  Until the mid nineties, hardware costs made videoconferencing pretty expensive, but with the introduction of relatively low cost, high speed broadband services, complemented by powerful computing processors and video compression techniques, video conferencing is making successful development in various areas like medicine and education.

What is the technology used?

Videoconferencing functions with the combination of a few different technologies; some are hardware, while other software. Videoconferencing programs are a combination of Web page tools and Internet communication, encompassed into one interface to enable the establishment of an interactive meeting environment. Such tool are:
·       ASP mark up, XML and HTML
·       Java scripts,
·       Instant messaging,
·       Audio and video streaming. (Spencer, W. 2012)

Video conferencing of the simplest kind just needs two people who have a computer, each with an internet connection and a microphone, along with a webcam/digital video camera and a video capture card.

Audio and video input from the camera and the microphone are converted to digital data. Videoconferencing depends a lot on the software. A lot of space and time is taken to transfer Audio and Video data. Data is compressed using Software so as to enable it to travel more quickly via ISDN (Integrated Services for Digital Networks) lines, broadband Internet or WiFi. (Spencer, W. 2012)Once the data reaches its final destination, it is decompressed so that it can be viewed on a television screen/computer monitor and can be heard through speakers. The Acoustic echo cancellation software is another important software that removes sound interference and delays so that the audio and video are in sync.(Spencer, W. 2012). This allows the parties to talk without distractions in real time.
Video conferencing software can be purchased by itself, or the software and server space can be provided by a hosting service.




Historical perspective

  Invention of videoconference

      The invention of videoconferencing can be traced back to the time, when the television was invented. Initially, it was known as simple analog conferencing. It was a very simple system, comprising of two closed circuit television systems connected by cable. German Reich Postzentralamt (post office) video telephone network serving Berlin and several German cities via coaxial cables between 1936 and 1940 was an example of the simple analog conferencing. (Ref: Nefsis, Video conferencing history). In fact, NASA used two radiofrequency UHF or VHF links, in both directions. (Ref: Nefsis, Video Conferencing history). Such a system is still used by television stations to report live from distant locations.  
Videoconferencing was introduced in 1964 in the World Fair in New York. (Ref: Nefsis, Video Conferencing history). It was highly futuristic and no one could even imagine that one day it would replace the standard telephone. AT&T introduced the Picturephone a few years later, in 1970. (Ref: Nefsis, Video Conferencing history). However, this Picturephone was impractical and cost the consumers $160 per month for each fixed end point. However, when Ericsson demonstrated its first trans-Atlantic LME video telephone call, companies saw the immense scope for the success of this technology and began to develop their own videoconferencing technology.  (Ref: Nefsis, Video Conferencing history)

The 1990’s saw the development of the videoconferencing system due to several factors, like technical advances in Internet Protocol, more efficient video compression technologies allowing even desktop or PC based video conferencing. (Ref: Nefsis, Video Conferencing history).
In 1991, DARTnet made history in videoconferencing by successfully connecting a transcontinental IP network, consisting of more than 12 research sites in the US and the UK using T1 trunks. Another videoconferencing system that made history and altered and impacted he future of commercial videoconferencing is CU-SeeMe, which ran on Apple Macintosh and became available to the public in 1992. (Ref: Nefsis, Video Conferencing history)



Figure 1-Global Schoolhouse students communicating via CU-SeeMe, with a video framerate between 3-9 frames per second. Reproduced from Andres, Y. M. (1993)



High-speed Internet became widely available at low prices by 2003. The cost of video captures and display technology also decreased. The masses were able to afford web cams and PC’s like laptops and notebooks became available at very low prices. Also, the availability of free software from leading IM service providers made video conferencing technologies more readily available to the consumers.




Current situation

Impact on society

Videoconferencing has greatly enhanced communication and removed barriers all over the world. It is an effective way to communicate when people cannot talk to each other face to face. It helps in live virtual conversation. It has also helped in reducing the cost of travelling and other expenses involved in long-distance communication. Videoconferencing is such a technology that is readily available to people of all different segments of society, due to the very low prices of laptops and mobile phones and cheap, high-speed Internet. Videoconferencing is used in various sectors of the economy like education, health, business etc.


Education
Videoconferencing has changed the education sector in a huge way. It is used in education for personal communication, collaborative work, presentations, research and so on. It has helped bring students in distant areas, where in physical availability of teachers is not available, in contact with teachers located at different places. It also provides an opportunity for students to go on virtual tours to different places, where travelling otherwise would be expensive and time consuming. Students can effectively communicate with experts located in different parts of the world and can obtain guidance and assistance, and can also interview these experts and gain more knowledge about them without actually meeting them. General education in most schools involves the learning of new languages, which students can efficiently practice by communicating with students in different countries. It helps to complement traditional teaching. The students get to experience and understand what they have theoretically learned. Students in California were given the chance to explore the facility of NASA from the videoconferencing system in their school, as part of their science and engineering project. (Horton, J. 2008). They were given a chance to ask questions and observe the workings of NASA. Such a trip could not have been possible without videoconferencing owing to heavy expenditure on travelling to the NASA facility. (Horton, J. 2008)




Figure 2- A NASA astronaut talks to students about being in a space station Atlantis. Reproduced from Chowdhury, D. (2007)


Medical Field

Videoconferencing has changed the medical world in miraculous ways. There has been a great increase in demand for services of both public and private healthcare organizations driven by change in demographic structure, aging population, greater awareness among people of various diseases and their cures, need to access remote populations from a centralized facilities. Videoconferencing enables doctors and medical service providers to extend expensive and expert health care services to people who cannot access it directly. It has greatly benefitted hospitals by increasing their geographical coverage. It has increased accessibility to such hospitals. A large proportion of the population lives in the rural area and health care provided is not sufficient. Videoconferencing provides an easy solution to such populations. Videoconferencing helps in monitoring of patients. It is not possible for people to travel regularly to the hospitals to get check ups done, especially if they are old. Videoconferencing provides an easy solution to that by bringing the doctor to the patient. All that is needed is a laptop or a cell phone. Videoconferencing also helps in counseling and consultation of patients from the comfort of their homes and from countries all over the world. A patient in Singapore can easily consult a specialist or expert doctor anywhere in the world through a laptop. Even though physical check up is not possible, the patient can still obtain the opinions of such an expert, as the expert can easily see the patient’s condition. Videoconferencing saves the patient a lot of trouble and money.
Lot of doctors raises objections against videoconferencing, especially the ones who depend on face-to-face consultations. Many doctors are old and are not particularly technology friendly. They like to stick to the traditional ways. However once these obstacles are overcome, videoconferencing has a tremendous potential to grow further in the medical field.

Figure 3- Doctors having discussions with other doctors through videoconferencing. Reproduced from Sauer, S.

Businesses
Videoconferencing has greatly helped small and middle-sized business owners in expanding their business, increased exposure to new markets and compete with companies of bigger size. These companies face the problem of understaffed IT departments and are generally on tight operating budgets. (Ref: The business benefits of videoconferencing). Videoconferencing has helped to overcome this problem. By holding meetings through multipoint videoconferencing, the cost of travelling and meeting expenses has been greatly reduced. Such small-scale companies can effectively meet with potential customers through videoconferencing. They can grow and develop without incurring any additional cost. The gas and petrol prices are on a rise and videoconferencing will help to save on these costs. Videoconferencing helps companies to achieve greater sales by enabling communication with buyers from all around the world. It helps them to reap the benefits of globalization. In today’s day and age, it is essential to have a broad and wide customer base. Business companies can also take advantage of outsourcing opportunities by holding online interviews with employees from different countries, enabling them to obtain the most talented and the best workers.
Videoconferencing also helps to telecommute. This may help to improve employee productivity, as they may feel more comfortable working from home. Also, work would not come to a halt on days when travelling to the workplace maybe difficult or inconvenient for the employee.

Environment
The need for small and medium-sized businesses to become eco-friendly is growing. People are becoming increasingly aware of the effects of global warming and pollution, and the dangers it can create in the long run. It is essential for such businesses to adopt greener methods of technology to appeal to the masses. It is also the corporate social responsibility of businesses to give back to the society and the environment by maintaining a healthy environment, free of pollution. Videoconferencing makes this possible without impacting the productivity of the business. It reduces the number of flights required for various meetings, interviews and conferences. This leads to a reduction in the amount of carbon footprints generated by companies. For example, 22.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be saved if 20% of business travel within Europe would be replaced by videoconferencing. (Jones, F.)
Another environmental benefit of videoconferencing is the reduced need and use of paper. If meetings and classroom studies and discussions are conducted through videoconferences, the amount of paper used up as notebooks, documents, contracts, prospectus and so on, for these processes would be saved, leading to reduced cutting down of trees. As a result, deforestation will decrease, and hopefully, we would move towards a greener and cleaner environment. Also, the cost of producing paper in factories and the pollution generated would be severely lessened, another step to a sustainable and greener tomorrow.





Figure 4- Airline expenditure is saved if videoconferencing is used. Reproduced from Capper, P. (2006)


Military
The military of the United States has also benefited from videoconferencing. It is estimated that 1% of Americans are enlisted in the United States Armed Forces, according to the CNN. (Ref: Military uses for conferencing technology). Videoconferencing enables all the soldiers, away in foreign countries, to talk to their families. Seeing their loved ones gives them comfort. Videoconferencing can also be used for briefing and giving directions to the soldiers situated at various base camps from one head quarter. In such cases, it is very difficult for the chief officials to move around and instruct soldiers on policies and course for action to undertake. The USAF is using videoconferencing efficiently to facilitate their functions. (Ref: Military uses for conferencing technology).

Disadvantages
However, the current videoconferencing system has some disadvantages too. The video conferencing system can prove to be complex to operate. Users may find it difficult to understand the procedure, especially those users who aren’t technology savvy. There is also a lack of personal touch, as the people conversing cannot understand each other’s environments and the other person’s situation. There is a problem of time zones. It is very difficult to find a common and suitable time, while holding meetings or conferences in two or more different parts of the world. There is also the problem of unstable Internet connections. Sometimes, in important meetings, there is a problem of getting disconnected, which may cause irritation to both the parties, and may lead to loss of business opportunities. Quality and expensive equipment is required to ensure such problems do not occur.
In videoconferencing systems like Skype, a certain charge is required to be paid to enable conference calls. Though this charge is not too high, it still may not be suitable or practical for a few companies. This may prove to be a setback too.





Future Consideration


Trends in future

Mobile video conferencing is the use of video conferencing technology on mobile phones, smart phones, and tablets. Mobile video conferencing is an up and coming trend in the world of videoconferencing. The sales of PC are on the decline, as the popularity of these smart phones is rising. Apple has moved to 37 million iPhones in the second quarter of 2013 while the Android OS phones sold a high 156 million devices in the next quarter. (Ref- What will the future of videoconferencing looks like). The reason for the increasing popularity of these smartphones is the convenient size; it can easily be carried around, as compared to a PC or desktop. They provide practically the same kind of benefits, as does a PC. Smartphones and tablets are here for the long run and may soon replace PC’s in providing a better medium for videoconferencing.

The change currently occurring in the industry, as evaluated by an August 2012 Forrester Wave report is that Videoconferencing technology is moving towards a more affordable and efficient solution, because of an increase in the cost of mobile video chat. People who make decisions in the IT sector now must compare the value of cost and scalability as opposed to the value of realistic, life-like quality. Moreover, they might want to consider unified communications solutions, a form of cloud technology, as a means to overcome the cost and skill barriers.(Ref: What will the future of videoconferencing look like).  The debate on the future of videoconferencing will continue as long as there are new solutions that offer unparalleled realism pitted against flexible mobile solutions that lead to accessible video chat. 


Future applications of video conferencing


Courts and law enforcement agencies are also taking advantage of the videoconferencing system’s multiple capabilities.Under a recently implemented video arraignment system by the Madison County Sheriff’s Department of Mississippi, criminals are allowed to appear before the judge without leaving the jail. (Ref: Courtrooms use videoconferencing to cut costs). This system will cut labor as well as transportation costs involved in transferring criminals. It will also improve safety for officials while transporting prisoners and reduces the risk of the prisoners escaping during transportation. Instances of video conferencing in district courts in Detroit and Oakland were noted by a Homeland Security News Article. The video arraignment project saved approximately $8 million during the first five years of its implementation in Oakland. (Ref: Courtrooms use videoconferencing to cut costs.). This may prove to be a very beneficial step for courts if it works out well.

Another interesting development in the application of videoconferencing is the one undertaken by European researchers. They are trying to device such a telepresence conferencing system that creates the impression that the communicators are actually physically present. These researchers were inspired by the ‘Star Trek’ series that showed characters being physically transported from one location to another. This led the researchers to start developing a “beaming’ system to enhance telepresence communication. (Ref: what will the future of videoconferencing look like.). EU Commission’s Community Research and Development Information System (CORDIS) is in the midst of a four year plan to combine robotics, cybernetics, neurology, and more to translate a person’s virtual presence onto a physical avatar. Their aim is to develop an android stand that provides the same kind of personal interaction as one would expect out of an in-person meeting.CORDIS is also developing a system to recreate forms of nonverbal communication and facial expressions for remote avatars.(Ref: what will the future of videoconferencing look like.)
These plans, if they succeed, will prove to be a new milestone in the development of videoconferencing. It will add a much more personal touch to videoconferencing. People would be able to project themselves in another place, while sitting on their bed.  The concept of virtual but physical existence, and augmented reality is a fascinating one. However, this may reduce face-to-face interactions between people. People would not like to leave the comfort of their homes, and may become anti-social. At the end of the day, nothing can surpass human interaction, which is real. So this development has both advantages and disadvantages.

Despite these benefits and advantages of videoconferencing, it is still difficult to predict the widespread adoption of videoconferencing as a major mode of communication. People’s unwillingness to use this technology will gradually fade away when videoconferencing reaches a tipping point and becomes as common as switching on the television, or writing an email. Videoconferencing needs to become more accessible and a more convenient way to communicate to be adopted by people all over.
The use and adoption of this technology is being measure in terms of the units sold and the availability in markets. However, it is important to measure the growth and success of videoconferencing in terms of the hours and money saved by companies on out-station meetings and conferences. It should be measured in terms of the convenience it provides to teachers and students, who can teach and learn from he vicinity of their homes and not incur difficulties in travelling. The question is not whether videoconferencing will become a part of everyday life, but rather when.


Conclusion

Videoconferencing is an amazing innovation that has come a long way since it was first developed in 1964. It has broken all barriers of the world and helped in the process of globalization by connecting people all across the world by means of a PC and Internet connection. People in the rural areas are connected easily with people in metropolitan cities. Initially, videoconferencing was possible only through desktops and PC’s, but now it has evolved and is accessible through smart phones, iPad’s, Tablets, projector screens and what not.

It is estimated that the enterprise telepresence and videoconferencing equipment market will reach 5.4 billion by 2015. (Diana, A.). Videophone industry is the fastest growing segment of the market with the strongest demand from North America, China, India and Brazil. (Diana, A.)

Like most technologies, videoconferencing has its pros and cons too. But the pros outweigh the cons and hence, videoconferencing has emerged as an effective, efficient, easy and cheap method of communication between people at different parts of the world. It has been adopted by various segments of the country in everyday proceedings. Many schools conduct classes through videoconferences, major meetings take place over Skype, and now even courts are adopting this technology for convenient and hassle-free legal proceedings. Videoconferencing has immense scope for development and use by all. It may become the major mode of communication between people in the future. All we have to do is wait and watch!



Reference

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[1]  This paper was reviewed by Sahana Iva Raghavan and Tam Chun Kit Joseph.