Video
conferencing is a communications
technology that integrates
video and voice to connect remote
users with each other as if they were in the
same room. Each user needs a
computer,
webcam,
microphone, and
broadband internet
connection for participation in
video
conferencing. Users see and hear
each other in realtime, allowing natural
conversations not possible with voice-only
communications technology.
Communications companies have been dabbling in
video
conferencing technology since as
early as the late 50s, but it took the advent of
broadband internet and affordable web cameras
(late 90s) for
video
conferencing to really take off.
Good bandwidth is necessary for high-fidelity
streaming video and voice.
Video
conferencing took a serious step
into mass use with the release of Microsoft
Netmeeting 3.0 in 1999. Now there are dozens of
software vendors marketing
video
conferencing software and a number
of investors interested in bringing
video
conferencing to mobile devices.
Very
appealing to the educational and business
sectors,
video
conferencing allows users to save
time and money on travelling and housing costs
by bringing people face-to-face virtually. Many
prominent universities have adopted
video
conferencing as an educational
tool to be used in conjunction with online
courses. Business leaders around the world use
video
conferencing to keep in touch with
important contacts while on the go.
Present-day applications of
video
conferencing technology are just
the beginning. As
video and voice capture
technology, software, and display technologies
continue to improve, the experience of
video
conferencing will become
increasingly natural and intuitive to a wider
range of users. Eventually
video
conferencing and similar
technologies will allow the creation of "virtual
cities", online spaces where people work
together without the constraint of geographic
proximity. This may decrease urban congestion
and save the environment by making it possible
for skilled workers living in the suburbs to
acquire high-paying jobs without the commute.
