Here’s another little tidbit from the All Things Digital conference…
During the on stage interview he and Steve Jobs had with Walt Mossberg, Bill gates mentioned a technology call Roundtable. This technology, formerly know as Ringcam, is a conferencing infrastructure and software platform that brings a new level of virtualization to remote meetings. The folks over at Human Productivity Lab have this great video and more details about Roundtable over on their blog:
This is actually a very interesting approach compared to the more static single camera model used by most current video conferencing systems. By combining a single 360 degree camera with one or more full room cameras (for orientation and perspective) the remote viewer feels much more immersed in the meeting. When combined with an electronic whiteboard, the system actually delivers an observational experience close to the one being enjoyed by those physically there.
But there’s still something missing…
Being in a meeting is ideally a participatory experience – not simply an observational one. The issue with this system is that people physically in the meeting do not share any meaningful level of connectivity with those attending remotely – its not a reciprocal experience. And without that, the people attending a meeting remotely are still second class participants. Those physically there can’t see or interact with remote participants individually. They can’t make direct eye contact. They can’t share notes, documents, or the quick one to one sidebar conversations people in meetings simply take for granted. There is still a big gap between those attending remotely and those that are there physically.
But Microsoft does have a technology that could go a long way to closing this gap.
Surface…
It’s something I wrote about last week, and I have included a quick video clip about it here:
Using a more traditional meeting model, a conference room outfitted with individual “Surface” panels, combined with a “Roundtable” system would let similarly equipped remote participants share more fully in the meeting. They could be individual faces on screens in front of everyone. They could IM or even “wisper” to specific individuals, and share documents, images, slides, etc with people individually or as a full group. This level of capability and interactivity could change a lot of things.
And there would be no need to just think of meetings in a traditional way…
With technologies like these, everyone could end up being remote – and probably be more efficient in terms of participation. The “meeting room” would strictly be a virtual construct of tools and services optimized for communicating and collaborating. People could interact fluidly and intuitively, and at it’s conclusion, “leave” the meeting with a common set of notes, follow-ups, and take-aways. Meetings could be recorded, serving as both a permanent record of what occurred, as well as a way for the chronic “late arriver” to catch up without having to delay the start of meetings or repeat introductions, etc.
I for one would love to have this type a meeting transcription.
Being able to go back and review specific details would be awesome…
Some meetings could even be time shifted – letting people participate and contribute over some fixed time window without all having to all be together at the same time. It could combine the benefits of disconnected technologies like IM, email, and voice mail, with the directly interactive technologies seen here to create a meeting venue optimized for each individual’s required participation. The efficiencies of something like this could be enormous.
This is not to say there isn’t a real need for face-to-face meetings. For some meetings – especially those with clients – having a personal, physically present interaction is a critical component of their value. But for many others, this type of interactive technology would be an ideal way to accomplish goals collaboratively.
With downsized workforces and a significant outsourced component to many business, the traditional way of holding meetings is becoming increasingly impractical. It’s simply too time intensive for the value derived from it. We need better ways to coordinate and share, and what we see today is just the start. The marketplace is ready for this.
I believe virtual presence and remote collaboration are going to be hot areas over the next five years…