Intelligent Video Conferencing

Proposal

Abstract


Video conferencing has developed from an emerging technology into a useful and widespread tool for improved communications. As the technology has grown, so has the application base. Whereas it once was for the exclusive use of executives in board rooms, videoconferencing is now becoming accessible to the small business owner and home user alike.

This technology allows two or more users to communicate in a way not allowed by telephony, email and the like. It is the real-time audio/visual impact that attracts so many users. For, if as the expression says "a picture is worth a thousand words," how much more valuable in the transfer of information is motion picture with sound (multiplied by many users).

This is not to say that the technology is not without its flaws. While high quality systems are available at equally high prices, and cheaper systems often lose their appeal after a few hours of use, there remains a need in the marketplace for a low to mid cost system offering originality and practicality in the same package.

It is this niche in the market that the "Intelligent Video Conferencing" (I.V.C.) system fills. I.V.C. is a product that is intended to be third party support for the Connectix QuickCam. The QuickCam is a small black and white C.C.D. digital camera that provides modest resolution and frame rates and a very low price. I.V.C. is a hardware/software solution to videoconferencing with the QuickCam. I.V.C. will allow users on a standard TCP/IP LAN to videoconference using a user-friendly, Java based graphical user interface. The originality and marketability of the product, however, lie in the fact that I.V.C. will be a "hands-off" solution, in that the user will no longer be restricted to sitting in front of the computer terminal while videoconferencing. The I.V.C motorized hardware will allow the user to move around freely within the vicinity of the station while I.V.C. conveniently tracks him/her around the room.

Thus, I.V.C. will offer an original and innovative videoconferencing solution to the budget conscious end user. The I.V.C. project presents an excellent opportunity to the investor who is interested in exploiting a somewhat unexplored area of the market. The moderate research and development cost for the project are intended to bring the cost of the manufactured end product to a minimum, thereby increasing the profitability of the product and the return on the initial investment.


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