We
recently went down to visit the excellent facilities at University
College Falmouth (UCF) as part of our ongoing work in the VConect
project. The University and its research wing are just one of the
institutions benefiting from the role out of super fast broadband in
Cornwall, currently being achieved with the help of BT. Such an
infrastructure of course lends itself well to requirements of the VConect project and its vision of incorporating high quality, intelligent video into social networking experiences.You may be familiar with some of our work on orchestration in TA2. The Vconect system is building on the research done in that previous project about video conferencing for the home with the benefit of two different use case – a socialisation use case based on computers in the home and a performance use case based on creating linked performance spaces using video mediated communication. UCF are exploring the requirements of such a platform using their existing infrastructure with the help of dance and acting student from their courses.
When we visited we were treated to a demonstration of work in progress. This particular experiment was looking at the possibility of creating the impression of being ‘side by side’ in the same space. The future role of orchestration is going to be on how to best use a single/multiple screens and projectors with multiple camera feeds available. The challenge will become even greater towards the end of the project as the two paths – performance and home – become merged. How best to represent a mediated performance such as this to an audience of many people sat at their computers at home?
