March 29, 2010

Virtual Meeting/Conferencing

Sounds familiar? SecondLife again?
[March 21, 2010] VenueGen lets businesses stage quick and easy virtual meetings.

Check out VenueGen's demonstration at DEMO Spring 2010 conference.


Yes. This time it might work. Compared to video conferencing, virtual meetings may be better in many aspects. For example, you don't need web cams; you don't need to make yourself look good at home; and you don't worry about the surrounding environment; etc. Can you think more advantages compared to video conferencing? Do you think it will get popular?

Check out more exciting new stuff at http://demo.com

8 comments:

Paloma Velez said...

I absolutely love this idea. I think it would get a lot of the silly tasks around video conferencing out of the way and get people down to what really matters. I wonder though about the problems that might arise around this technique at first- problems like not taking it seriously. I fear that, because the individuals communicating would be avatars, top companies would not take it seriously at first. But, like every new kind of technique in business, I think it will just take some adjustment. I can only hope that once this form of communication is integrated into the business world, it will eventually be taken as seriously as face to face interactions. I think of course, there would need to be an established set of rules that would govern these virtual meetings that would allow everyone to speak and everyone's voice to be heard. I know this is far fetched, but I would really like to see this kind of communication become something where all avatars look the same with names that are not gender specific. I wonder what goals would be achieved if all avatars had total anonymity. I think it would create an unbias way of achieving a goal. That's just a thought though. This is wonderful start though and I can only hope that it will catch on.

Asa Stallings said...

I see that VenuGen is a very progressive invention. However, if it is anything like second life, I don't see it taking off and being a huge success. Society has become more impersonal, but this is increadible to far to go when trying to conduct business. I believe people will get bored with the artifical people they are speaking to. People still want to conduct business face to face with people or at least see what the person really looks like. Seeing a person in person helps build trust and a strong business relationship. Also, VenuGen looks very robotic. I think, yes there are some perks to VenuGen, but I don't see this as the future of conferences. Avatars should remain a tool used for social networks.

Iva Murray said...

VenuGen is a great virtual meeting invention which provides great opportunities for meetings weather long distance which could safe travel time and expenses, or close distance for people with very busy schedules. The software it self gives variety of movement options, face expressions, eye contact options as well as options for creating avatar that looks just like you based on your picture. It is obvious that the creators has done great job trying to make it as close to a real meeting or conference as possible, but there are some disadvantages to it. Firstly, the person(s) using it have to spend certain amount of time setting his avatar look and becoming familiar with how everything works in order to perform better in meetings. Second, as a new invention not many companies or businesses are using it which can be limiting for the near future. Thirdly, people still prefer personal and face to face way of interaction especially when it comes to business. Thus, VenusGen could definitely be great advantage for businesses but only if it becomes widely popular and does not limit the company connections, and if people become more open minded for using an robotic avatar instead.

"Sillist" said...

At first, just by reading the headline, I thought "oh gosh...another virtual reality game like second life" (and I cannot stand virtual reality games). But VenueGen sounds pretty awesome! I like the idea. It's a good thing to have if you are in a business field and have meetings, but you don't want to have to commute or the big boss is far away and you need to have. And I like how you can have an avatar with your own face from a picture...not a funny looking thing you can make. What would make VenueGen really cool is if the servers aren't as slow as other virtual reality games. Because second life is really slow. Sometimes the worlds won't show up. Now...the downside to VenueGen is the price! I'm sure it's a whole lot better than meeting in other virtual settings, but $490 a month? Seriously! I'd rather put up with second life than that.
But I do like the idea of meetings online. It's just another way that the world is changing and becoming more hightech...I thought conference calls were amazing...but something like VenueGen....takes it to the MAX! Me being a future business woman would really use something like this!

Jasmine C. Smith said...

I was absolutely amazed by the technology that VenuGen offers. This is not only a step up from social networking but an outstanding breakthrough for all companies as far as cutting expenses and being able to virtually have meetings in reference to new or existing products. This program should be in high demand based on it facility of use and all of the benefits it has to offer.
What I especially liked was the fact that you can customize and personalize an avatar in efforts to making the experience much more personal instead of having plain text and photos on networks such as Facebook and Myspace.
I do believe this is just a precursor to eventually having actual 3-D or projection images of people (for lack of better terminology) that we can actually see next to us as if we were in the same room. I do believe if we don't actually have that technology already, VenuGen is definitely getting us a step closer!

Nicole Durham said...

This technology that VenuGen offers is just simply amazing. I think this type of technology is very unique and will become very popular over time. I think it will be very popular in the business world, because this product allows you to focus more on the business meeting without having the distractions of having to worry about whats going on in the background and not have to worry about your appearance. This product allows you to handle business matters through the virtual world which is still set up in an business meeting format so thats what makes it different and unique. So I believe this will be very popular in the business world, because it different and also because it will give people a opportunity to focus on the business matter thats at hand without worrying about the little simply distractions.

Tamara Racic said...

This type of technology that VenuGen is offering is quite impressive. Maybe in the future this type of conference call will become popular but as for right now, I don't see it taking off. The pros of this virtual meeting are definelty being able to do them anywhere. It's also convenient for the boss who might happen to be out of town the week of a meeting. Some of the cons that I see with this type of system is that people might be less motivated to actually pay attention. I guess I'm just a little old fashioned but when I think of work meetings I like to physically be present and speaking to all of my coworkers in person. I can understand this being a one time deal but not a constant measure for doing business. I can also see people wondering off to other sites while on these conference calls. But I'm sure they would have to enforce a set of rules for each conference and make sure that everyone had a chance to voice their opinions. I'm sure this type of conference call idea will catch on in business but I'm not sure it will spread like fire.

Gorm Laursen II said...

I do not like this at all. Though it offers simultaneous communication for those who are not able to meet in person, is that not the point of a meeting? The goal of a meeting is to find a time and date where people can meet in person and complete business transactions. Taking the personal touch away from this concept can prove to be very counter productive.