How to Change the World and be Home for Dinner:
The art, science, and myths of videoconferencing
Milton
Chen and Erica Chuang, VSee Lab
miltchen
graphics.stanford.edux
Seminar on People, Computers, and Design
Stanford University March 11, 2005
Existing videoconferencing systems often distort conversational cues such that the person, rather than the medium, is viewed with negative attributes. For example, a delayed response due to video transmission may cause the person to be viewed as slow. Lip movements not synchronized with speech due to video compression may cause the person to be viewed as less credible. And difficulties with eye contact due to camera placement may cause the person to be viewed as unfriendly. The power of "bad" video to do "harm" is one of the fundamental reasons that videoconferencing is still not ubiquitous despite its introduction by AT&T in 1927.
In this talk, we will describe experiments conducted at Stanford University
on the characteristics of "bad" video and methods to overcome these
factors. We will introduce VSee, the videoconferencing software based on these
discoveries. Next, we will describe United Nation's deployment of VSee in
Indonesia for tsunami relief, Department of Defense's deployment of VSee in
Iraq and Afghanistan, and telework consortium's remote office experiments.
Lastly, we will challenge some common myths of videoconferencing.
Dr. Milton Chen is the Chief Technology Officer of VSee Lab. Milton's pioneering research at Stanford University has shown why videoconferencing has failed to become ubiquitous despite billions in investments since 1927. His unique insight in how to make video communication an everyday experience has led to more than 30 invited talks to major research institutions around the world. Milton received a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Dr. Erika Chuang is a research scientist at VSee Lab. Her research interests
include video mediated communication, computer vision, computer graphics,
and machine learning, in particular the study of human facial expressions
and body language and their application in computer animation, humancomputer
interaction, and multimedia. Erika received her BS/MEng degrees in EECS from
MIT, and a PhD from Stanford University. Prior to joining VSee, she worked
on acquiring 3D facial models, for virtual conferencing at HP and for special
effects at Disney Animation Studio.
View this talk on line at CS547 on Stanford OnLine
Titles and abstracts for previous years are available by year and by speaker.