Although we've got a special place in our hearts for Cisco's 1080p-lovin'
TelePresence Meeting system, HP's own Halo Collaboration Center ain't too shabby. Announced today as the newest member of its expanding Halo platform, the aforementioned center comes in two- and four-seat iterations and prides itself on being simple to install in a plethora of locations. Additionally, each unit is designed to "operate seamlessly with existing Halo products," and just in case you were hoping to have work follow you all the way back to the hotel, HP also announced that it's teaming up with Marriott International to install Halo Meeting Rooms in select facilities. Now, figure out how to actually get a Halo 3 deathmatch going on these things and their value increases astronomically.
Read - HP Introduces New Halo Telepresence Product, Marquee Customer Wins
Read - HP and Marriott International Form Alliance to Open "Public Access" Halo Telepresence Rooms
posted March 18th 2008 9:46AM
Does Master Chief get an Aeron chair too? :-)
I hope so.
These teleconference rooms just don't work. The idea is that it's "just like being in a room together", but it is awkward and unnatural. I am based in NYC and have had meetings with India and LA in 2 different huge rooms like this (think Star Trek) and, frankly, conference calls are far more effective. The cameras and video wall are a distraction and barrier to comfortable communication. Greta in theory, dumb in practice.
I've had the opposite experience from fashionista with the Cisco Telepresence. I've had 3 or 4 conferences across the country and it's always been very pleasant. It's about one step away from being there, as you can't easily have side conversations (although it is possible to have multiple conversations going through the unit). The eye contact is a little off, but you can feel the presence of the other person on the other side and take natural cues when they are about to speak. Additionally, when two people talk over one another, you can generally hear what both are saying - as opposed to a traditional phone, where you can't hear either. Finally, the quality is unbelievably good. I held up a piece of paper with a drawing on it and the other end could clearly see what I was trying to describe. I do wish we had a whiteboard in the back of the room, for exactly that purpose.
I never understood why people thought these were a big deal. It's an overpriced LCD and webcam. I guarantee there are some teenagers with better rigs setup over AOL.
We have the Cisco T3000s where I work and as someone involved with the testing and demoing of these, they are truly amazing. Yes, the idea of video conferencing is nothing new but unless you have been in one of these rooms as well - you are in no position to say anything.
Thanks.
I'd have to agree with fashionista. A regular conference call is very effective, and it's very simple and inexpensive. We have a few video conference rooms setup like this and most of the staff dread using them.
I'm with Chris on this one. For a meeting with more than a couple of people at the other end the effect of "spacial audio" in Cisco's system, as well as their awesome data compression is pretty cool. The price seems steep for what it is, but most companies can cover it in the first year if they can even marginally use it to cut the number of business class flights their staff take.
You call 12MB connection for HD video awesome data compression? I call it Cisco trying to upsell a network for every installation.
Brandon: 12MB for three simultaneous 1080p streams with three separate life-like spacial audio channels isn't awesome? Wow, I want to see what compression you've been using...
Turbo: Polycom RPX runs at 2MB to 3MB per stream for HD streams also with the life-like spacial audio and when you look someone in the eye it actualy does match up. Bonus for both Polycom and HP/Tandberg (the Halo from the article) for actually providing standards based interoperability compared to the Cisco solution of only tying Telepresence rooms together. Which may seem like a small thing, but when you look at large enterprises with branches through deploying a 5MB-12MB dedicated pipe to each branch is not feasible or even needed when a smaller VCU could be used. Not to mention Cisco requires their UCM to be installed for it to work.
The main point of it is that a 4MB pipe for a single HD Stream is not awesome compression, it's just a regular HD codec.
Responding to kentavos, blacknimbus... a teleconference is an effective tool, just like an old fashioned phone. Add in web conferencing and you can do even more effectively. I think the point is that high def teleconferencing slices more physical interactions off the top and moves them into the remote category. I've used Cisco TelePresence and it does things no teleconference [phone call] can do. The experience is "primal" in that the impact is more/different than you can predict. It's not just something like a hammer. It's impact on human interaction is very complex.
If this sounds like I'm on drugs, imagine actually being on a Star Trek holodeck. I'd bet I'd be blown away and totally spun around. TelePresence is on that type of continuum.
Maybe too metaphysical?