With apologies to Peter Sellers, a well designed telepresence room can only add to the effect of being where you aren't.
With travel costs rising and companies growing ever more global, it isn't always possible for colleagues to meet in person. Video teleconferencing (VTC) has long been an option, but even that seems so last century compared to what AV pros can enable today.
Manufacturers such as Cisco, LifeSize, Polycom, Tandberg, and others have started pushing VTC and the design of teleconferencing spaces to the limits of their capabilities in an effort to reduce or eliminate as many of the communication filters inherent to VTC as possible. They've even given this VTC on steroids a name–telepresence.
Technology filters–factors that often render the VTC experience underwhelming–are well known: inadequate bandwidth, inconsistent audio, poor lighting, and lack of interoperability, to name a few. But the biggest filters relate to human ergonomic and personal communication issues–issues that merely underscore the fact that the person you're meeting with really is in another room, far away.
It turns out the design of a room and the placement of technology within the room can have more impact on the quality of a virtual meeting experience than the actual technology used. Just as the right conference room design will maximize the AV systems in that room, the right telepresence room design will create a truly immersive meeting experience. Here's how.
Defining the Experience
First, what exactly does the term "telepresence" mean? "Teleconferencing" literally means "to confer (or meet) at a distance." As you think through the that definition, you can form a good mental image of what is intended. Telepresence, however, should paint an entirely different picture. How do you achieve "presence at a distance?"
Pete Nutley, director of global product marketing at Tandberg, describes telepresence this way: "It's a video meeting experience that creates the feeling of being across the table from the remote participants."
In order to achieve this experience, all participants are seated at a pre-determined distance from their respective cameras so as to appear life-size to the people at the far-end of the network connection. High-resolution, low-latency video, coupled with high quality directional audio help create this effect. And other visual cues–all telepresence rooms painted the same wall colors, equipped with the same lighting, and outfitted with the same furniture–round out the design.
"So telepresence really is about the experience," Nutley says. "When one or more of the criteria, such as background, distance from camera, desk color, etc., is not met, the experience of being in the same room deteriorates."
Jeff Machtig, co-founder of Digital Video Enterprises (DVE)*, which designs and sells telepresence solutions, agrees. "Psychology dictates that there are certain key elements that allow for effective communication and interaction between two or more individuals. How successfully we relate to one another depends greatly upon eye-to-eye contact."
The human factors of communication, therefore, are as or more important than the technology itself. The goal is to design a facility–technology and space working together–that fools the participant into thinking they are in the same space as the individuals they are meeting with. In other words, minimize the filters and distractions and make them as transparent as possible by paying close attention to several factors.
This story was edited to correct the name of Machtig's company, Digital Video Enterprises (DVE)
