Video conferencing has become an important tool in today's globalized world as employees have to communicate with coworkers, partners and clients who are located in different parts of the world. This convenience is just one reason why more companies are using video conferencing tools as a part of their communication today. To cater to this growing demand for video conferencing, many tech companies are coming together to pool their tools and expertise. One such collaboration is between Digital Video Enterprises (DVE) Systems and Microsoft Lync.
This collaboration has led to the creation of a product called the Immersion Room that allows users to project standard Microsoft products so others on the conference can interact with them. For example, someone presenting can create a holographic presentation and allow other users to collaborate. The idea behind this is to ensure that users collaborate and work with each other using an integrated interface they are familiar with. Therefore, users use the same standard Microsoft PowerPoint interface for creating presentations and they can share and collaborate with others using the combination of DVE's high-definition telepresence software and Lync.
Users can now have eye-to-eye contact with each other while talking online. This level of communication erases geographical barriers and adds a personal touch to the communication. Another advantage is that the entire system is flexible, therefore it can be tailored to any conference infrastructure. Such a high level of flexibility opens up new opportunities for users as they can communicate from a variety of devices such as laptops, tablets, smartphones and even their TV screens.
Microsoft has remained quiet on the WebRTC development, which is an open technology to bring real-time communications to the browser without any downloads or plugins, although it has put a lot of effort into
Microsoft Silverlight, which is a tool to create interactive user experiences for Web and mobile applications, and H.264, one of the video codecs up for standardization for WebRTC (against VP9). Do hologram rooms muddy the WebRTC waters? Maybe. Looks like 2014 will be an interesting year for real-time communications on the Web.
Edited by
Rachel Ramsey
