BCNETwork News
 
September 2005

With the Help of Technology, the World is Becoming an increasingly Smaller Place.

by Elise Everest

Imagine an opportunity to communicate with a person in another location as if you were sharing the same space. Imagine interacting virtually with numerous individuals while having the ability to carry on simultaneous conversations. This vision is becoming a reality as a result of a research initiative lead by McGill University Instructional Communications Centre and the University of British Columbia Telestudios--a project for an advanced videoconferencing system.

Opening Windows
Researchers from Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa are seeking to use life-size HDTV monitors to open a high-quality, sharply defined window between two conference facilities – one at the University of British Columbia, the other at McGill. One of the first and only projects of its kind in the world, this initiative positions Canadian researchers at the forefront in this emerging area of videoconferencing technology.

The technology will use lightpaths, two-way HDTV, surround sound and three life-size (65”) panoramic displays. Working with high-definition video presents the challenge of managing significantly greater amounts of bandwidth then standard-definition video. Lightpaths from CANARIE, BCNET and RISQ will provide the 1-gigabit per second capacity needed for each of the three video streams.

“The other side of the project,” Zuberbuhler continues, “has to do with what I’ve always called the people perspective. And by that I mean, will high-definition videoconferencing make a difference in virtual interaction?”

Enhancing Virtual Interaction

As regular, standard-definition videoconferencing technology is already expanding in wide-spread use, assisting users with collaborative efforts, in teaching environments and as a relatively inexpensive and convenient method of communication, high-definition videoconferencing will only serve to enhance the virtual interaction experience, overcoming the limitations of traditional group videoconferencing: the difficulty in making eye contact, one-on-one conversations, visual quality and a narrow field of view.

A Multi-stage Approach

A multi-stage approach, the project is currently in its technical stage, installing and establishing network connectivity, fiber connections and 10-gigabit switches at the two universities. High-definition cameras will be purchased and appropriate servers, hardware and software are in the process of being designed. Zuberbuhler anticipates that at least one plasma screen and camera will be fully operational for the beginning of September, with the final setup completed by December. The ultimate goal of the project involves the use of six streams of simultaneous video: three streams flowing into the setup and three streams flowing out.

UBC Telestudios partners with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa

This is not the first occasion the University of British Columbia Telestudios has collaborated with a Canadian institution to connect faculty members and students. Prior to the inception of the HDTV project, the UBC Telestudios partnered with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa to facilitate a series of master class sessions where piano students situated at UBC’s Music Recital Hall were able to participate in a lesson with award-winning composer Alexina Louie from Ottawa, via broadband networks. Using interactive video-conferencing technology, students were invited to play a selection and receive comments from Ms. Louie. Initiatives such as the master class series sparked a dialogue between Mark Zuberbuhler and John Roston, Director of Instructional Multimedia Services at McGill University, which led to the development of a proposal for funding from CANARIE.

“We wanted to do something that was long distance and was using the lightpath technology,” Zuberbuhler explains, “and we also wanted to look at the exploration of high-definition television.” Transferring to UBC Telestudios from writing, directing and producing for the broadcast television industry, Zuberbuhler describes the merits of working at UBC Telestudios as, “an opportunity not only to create rich media content through video production and multimedia development, but also to integrate emerging technologies in order to deliver that content anytime and anywhere.”

Experimenting with Developing Technologies

Prior to recent technological advances in the Internet and broadband networks, UBC Telestudios was originally developed as an audio/visual broadcast facility. As technology has evolved, so has UBC Telestudios to incorporate online and digital technology into its production of media content. Primarily focusing on two types of projects – learning projects and institutional/promotional projects – UBC Telestudios creates streaming media that is often incorporated into online courses, develops multimedia such as CD-Roms or DVDs to be incorporated into teaching environments or promotional opportunities, and webcasts important events such as key-note seminars or graduation ceremonies.

Consistently seeking to experiment with developing technologies, UBC Telestudios was the first department on the UBC campus to provide webcasting via the broadband network, the first department to host a videoconference over IP and soon to be the first department in the province to operate an HDTV videoconferencing facility.