HP Introduces SkyRoom Conferencing

Hewlett-Packard rolled out SkyRoom, affordable, high-definition videoconferencing software that offers live, real-time collaboration for instant face-to-face meetings with no subscription fees. SkyRoom offers live collaboration for as many as four people over a standard business network for $149.

With HP SkyRoom, users can share any type of application supported on their PC or workstation, including office documents, streaming video, and interactive 3D applications. Digital content and engineering teams can collaborate on sophisticated design concepts, sharing content and visually rich human conversations. Production houses can preview animation clips to dispersed teams for live, instant feedback. And, financial teams spread across the world can run live models for discussion and collaboration.



SkyRoom is easy to use. A person clicks a contact to connect, initiating a live SkyRoom session. Another click shares the desktop or rich media content, and participants are instantly collaborating (see video on www.cgw.com). During a SkyRoom session, information is transferred at a rate four times faster than the blink of an eye.

HP SkyRoom is based on video and image communication technology developed in HP Labs. SkyRoom’s innovation comes from the combination of HD, multiuser videoconferencing and a sophisticated capability to share display information more securely than with actual transfer of data and processing functions. The multithreaded video engine enables all participants to see the presenter’s display and one another through a multiway videoconferencing session. Remote users can view the host presenter’s desktop and its applications as if they were using a local machine. It enables the display of 2D and 3D graphics, full-motion video, and multidisplay using a 2D graphics card. The software on the presenter’s system monitors and updates only changes in screen appearance, not the entire display, then compresses and encrypts the information before sending it to the participants, where it is decrypted, decompressed, and updated. In this way, network traffic is greatly reduced, latency and bandwidth requirements are diminished, and the need for dedicated networking hardware is eliminated.

SkyRoom will be included at no cost on select HP business desktop and mobile workstations, and for free for a trial period on many upcoming HP premium business PCs. Current HP users can purchase SkyRoom. It also can be used on workstations or PCs from Dell, Lenovo, or Sun that meet minimum technology requirements.
product: Videoconferencing

Prime Focus Unveils View-D

Prime Focus recently launched View-D, its proprietary 2D-to-3D conversion process that allows filmmakers to efficiently reate stereoscopic 3D movies from source material shot on virtually any medium.

“3D moviemaking has proven to be more than a passing trend; it’s rejuvenating international box offices and giving filmmakers a new storytelling technique that enriches the movie-going experience,” says Michael Fink, CEO of Prime Focus. “Prime Focus is a visual effects facility, so we’ve been calculating 3D space from 2D images for years, and developed the technology behind View-D after having worked on several stereo 3D shows. With View-D, we’re offering the industry a new production method to convert both library titles and new releases to stereoscopic quality in considerably less time than other methods.”

By taking advantage of the View-D service, filmmakers can now shoot a movie with a single camera, on film, without having to be locked into digital cameras and potentially complicated stereoscopic camera rigs. Pricing for the service is project-dependent.
Product: Stereoscopy