Rethinking telepresenceArticles

This is a telepresence system from Cisco:

It's pretty cool, people who have tried it say it's so flawless you sometimes try handing documents to people on the screen. But it has two problems: it requires a dedicated room, and it will set you back $300,000 for each system ($600K minimum).

Lets try designing a dirt cheap telepresence system:

Systems should be flexible, if you want to make it seem you are sitting across the table, just put a table there. No need for dedicated furniture that can't be used in other contexts.

Additionally, Cisco affirms that the system is "as easy as making a phone call". But real telepresence should be an extension of your office. In an ideal situation, the room is a "portal" to the remote office where you meet up for anything, just as you would in real life. The projector could be continuously transmitting a live feed as soon as it detects movement.

Of course, you could turn it off for anything that doesn't require remote collaboration, but the on/off switch should be the lighting system itself. I can already see the CEO chatting with the janitor over a cup of coffee.