Individual Topical Review Paper, First Draft
Topic: Video
Conference- Evolution and Future.[1]
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 and the technology used in this process. The
invention of videoconferencing has also been discussed.
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 details.
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, as defined by the Oxford Dictionaries, is a conference in which
participants in different locations are able to communicate with each other in
sound and vision. 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 has also been called ‘visual collaboration’ and is a type
of groupware. It is an intermediate form of videotelephony, first deployed
commercially in the United States by AT&T corporations during the early
seventies as a part of their development of Picturephone Technology. Until the
mid nineties, hardware costs made videoconferening 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 combine Web page
tools and Internet communication into one interface to create an interactive
meeting environment. These tools include:
· HTML, XML and ASP mark up,
· Java scripts,
· Instant messaging,
· Streaming audio and video.
The
simplest type of video conferencing requires two people, each with a computer,
an Internet connection and a PC with a microphone, a webcam or a digital video
camera and a video capture card.
Video
input from the camera and audio input from the microphone are converted to
digital data. Software is extremely important to the videoconferencing process.
Audio and Video data can take up a lot of space and time to be transferred.
Software is used to compress the data so that it can travel more quickly via
ISDN lines, broadband Internet or WiFi. When the data reaches its destination,
it's decompressed to be viewed on a computer monitor or television screen and
heard through speakers. Another important software component is the Acoustic
echo cancellation software is used to remove sound interference and eliminate
delays so that sound and visuals are in synch. This makes it possible for the
parties to talk to one another in real time without any distractions.
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. In fact, NASA used two radiofrequency UHF or VHF links, in both
directions. 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. 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. 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.
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.
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.
Global Schoolhouse students communicating via CU-SeeMe, with a video framerate between 3-9
frames per second (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 facilitated communication between people all over the world and broken
down barriers. It is an effective way to communicate when people cannot come
face to face to talk to each other. It helps in live conversation, which is
actually virtual. It has also helped in reducing the cost of travelling and
other expenses required for meeting of people at two different places.
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 high-speed and cheap Internet connection. Videoconferencing
is used in various sectors of the economy like education, health, business etc.
Videoconferencing has
changed the education sector in a drastic way. It is used in education for
personal communication, collaborative work, presentations, research and so on.
It has helped bring remote students 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. It enables far-away experts to come into contact with students
and provide them with assistance and guidance. Students can also interview
these experts and get to know more without actually meeting the expert.
Videoconferencing helps students practice the foreign languages they learn, by
enabling communication with students from different countries, studying in
different schools. 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. 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.
A NASA astronaut
talks to students about being in a space station Atlantis.
Videoconferencing is
also gaining success in the medical field. There has been a great increase in
demand for services of both public and private healthcare organizations driven
by factors like aging population, greater awareness 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 helped to increase the geographical area and reach of medical
services by the hospitals. A large proportion of the population lives in the
rural area and health care services provided are 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.
Videoconferencing in
the medical field is facing obstacles from various doctors, who rely on the
face-to-face consultation of their patients. But once these obstacles are
overcome, videoconferencing has a tremendous potential to grow further in the
medical field.
Doctors having
discussions with other doctors through videoconferencing.
Videoconferencing has
greatly helped small and middle-sized business owners in growing their
business, reach 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. Videoconferencing has helped to overcome this problem.
By holding meetings through multipoint videoconferencing, the cost of
travelling and meeting expenses has been greatly reduced. 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 widespread communication with
buyers from all over the world. It helps them to reap the benefits of
globalization. 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. Telecommunication is employees working from home. This
may help to improve employee productivity, as they may feel more comfortable
working from home.
Also, the need for
small and medium-sized businesses to become eco-friendly is growing. It is
essential for such businesses to adopt greener methods of technology to appeal
to the masses. Videoconferencing makes this possible without impacting the
productivity of the business. It reduces the number of flights required to be
taken 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.
Airline expenditure
is saved if videoconferencing is used
Videoconferencing
has also helped the military of the United States. It is estimated that 1% of
Americans are enlisted in the United States Armed Forces, according to the CNN.
Videoconferencing enables all the soldiers, away in foreign countries, to talk
to their families who may be miles away in distance. It provides comfort to
these soldiers, who get to see their loved ones. Videoconferencing can also be
used for briefing and giving directions to the soldiers situated at various
base camps from one head quarter. Videoconferencing is being used efficiently
by the USAF to facilitate their functions.
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 are not too
technologically abled. There is also a lack of personal touch, as the people
conversing cannot understand each other’s environments. There is a problem of
time zones. While holding meetings or conferences in different parts of the
world, to decide a common time to communicate is very difficult. 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. 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. This may 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. 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. 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, partially in response to the rise of
mobile video chat. IT decision makers today
must weigh the value of cost and scalability against that of immersive,
life-like quality. Additionally, they may want to consider cloud technology
such as unified communications solutions as a way of overcoming cost and skill
barriers to adoption. With new solutions offering unparalleled realism
competing against mobile solutions that provide flexible, accessible video
chat, the debate about the future of videoconferencing is likely to continue.
Future application of video conferencing
Courts
and law enforcement agencies are tapping into the capabilities of
videoconferencing system. Mississippi’s Madison County Sheriff’s Department
recently implemented a video arraignment system, allowing criminals to appear
before a judge without leaving the jail. This system will help to cut labor
costs as well as transportation costs involved in taking the prisoners from the
prisons to the court and back. It will also improve safety for officials while
transporting prisoners and reduces the risk of the prisoners escaping during
transportation. A Homeland Security News Wire
article noted instances of videoconferencing in district courts in places such
as Detroit and Oakland. In Oakland, the video arraignment project saved an
estimated $8 million in its first five years, the publication reported. 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 participants are actually
physically present. These researchers were inspired by the ‘Star Trek’ series,
which enabled characters to be physically transported between different
locations. These researchers are developing a system called “beaming” to
improve telepresence communication. 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 goal is to provide an android stand in
that offers the same type of personal interaction as an in-person meeting.
CORDIS is also working to recreate facial expressions and forms of nonverbal
communication for remote avatars.
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.
The concept of virtual but physical existence 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.
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. Videophone industry is the fastest growing segment of the
market with the strongest demand from North America, China, India and Brazil.
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.
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