Previously, I have mentioned how Augmented Reality (AR) could be employed to evaluate nanomaterial properties through being able to switch from 3-D images containing three different parameters to a different view with one or more of the parameters changed.\u00a0 The real question is how might AR be beneficial to a large number of people.<\/p>\n
One of the challenges of business is the necessity for meetings.\u00a0 Being able to meet face-to-face enables a strong interaction among the people present.\u00a0 Conference calls are okay but lack the ability to talk about figures and drawings.\u00a0 Yes, it is possible to send out the information and hopefully have people move to the page that is being discussed.<\/p>\n
WebEx and similar approaches are beneficial by enabling the presenter to move through a presentation with everyone observing the same specific item being discussed.\u00a0 Yes, it is possible to add video so that individual can appear on a screen.\u00a0 The issue with multiple little rectangular video boxes on the screen is that once a small number of participants is exceeded it is difficult to focus on the presentation.<\/p>\n
I have experienced video conferences where the multiple video conferencing rooms are set up.\u00a0 When this is done correctly, it is almost like siting across a table from the participants.\u00a0 The issue with this approach is the requirement for dedicated facilities to enable the communications.<\/p>\n
What is it about face-to-face meetings that make them better that the alternatives we have today?\u00a0 Face-to-face meetings provide for the ability to observe how participants react during a meeting.\u00a0 Facial changes provide a significant amount of information on how an individual is reacting to the presentation.\u00a0 This is not possible under current virtual meeting alternatives \u2013 today.<\/p>\n
Augmented Reality employs computer generated graphics into a real-world environment.\u00a0 In most of these instances, the generated image is three dimensional.\u00a0 This still requires processing power to achieve the desired images.<\/p>\n
What if?\u00a0 What if it were possible to have a camera taking 3-D images of a meeting participant and sending the data to a computer to create an augmented image of that person?\u00a0 What if the resolution of that image were sufficient to observe facial expressions (on a 3-D image of the person)?\u00a0 What if there were sufficient transmission capabilities to send and receive multiple images simultaneously?\u00a0 What if there were sufficient processing power to resolve all the images being sent?<\/p>\n
One can envision a future program that can insert meeting participants into empty chairs around a meeting table.\u00a0 (Obviously, everyone would need to be wearing an AR headset.)\u00a0 Physically present people would take a seat at the table.\u00a0 The computer would provide AR images of the remote people and place them in empty seats.\u00a0 Hands could be raised to ask questions.\u00a0 There would be no difference between the physically present and the virtually present people.\u00a0 Would this approach be as good as an in-person meeting?\u00a0 Not quite.\u00a0 The ability to have side discussions would still be available.\u00a0 With sufficient resolution, the reactions of the attendees would be recognizable.\u00a0 What would be missing is the side conversations prior to and after the meeting.<\/p>\n
Is this possible today?\u00a0 Not yet.\u00a0 There are a number of issues and the technology is still in the early stage.\u00a0 If one considers the data requirements.\u00a0 If the image is 3-D, the data required is at least twice for a typical video transmission.\u00a0 The resolution needs to be higher, which increase the data to be transmitted.\u00a0 In some locations, the upload speed is more than a factor of 10 slower than download speed.\u00a0 If there are 5 or 10 people in one location, the system will probably not perform well.\u00a0 So, higher upload speeds will be required.\u00a0 The computational power required is significant.\u00a0 If the people are rendered (virtually), the refresh rate needs to be many times a second.\u00a0 Again, higher data transmission rates required.\u00a0 The computer that creates the virtual image must be refreshing the image many times a second.\u00a0 This needs to be done for each of the participants.\u00a0 Does this mean multiple computers with multiple cores?\u00a0 Probably.\u00a0 My guess is that a system with the capability described, would have multiple computers.\u00a0 Each computer could handle set number of virtual people.\u00a0 If that number was exceeded, a second computer would be brought on line.\u00a0 The possibilities are endless.\u00a0 We need for a company to come forward with a augmented reality meeting product.\u00a0 Consider that program to be something like WebEx on super-steroids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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