Westmont College
Academic Technology Faculty Pilot Projects
Telepresence Project
GOAL
This project involves partnership among IT departments and NCIS to set up and support a multi location video conference solution. This initial installation will connect Westmont main campus to the off campus Westmont downtown classrooms.
RESEARCH QUESTION:
If a multi location video conference system can be set up to connect students and faulty at individual sites how will this level of communication impact their work together? Additionally, what is the potential in this type of set up for connecting Westmont main campus to other Westmont off campus programs?
ACTION:
NIC partners designed and installed telepresence gear in two locations. The on campus location was WH216 classroom where three large video screens, three cameras and multiple microphones were installed and connected to a tablet for control. The system was connected to work over our campus network. The second room connected was the View room at Westmont Downtown (26 W. Anapamu st.) where one large video display on a cart along with one of the existing large video displays in the classroom were connected to a tablet for control. This was also set up to work over our campus network. In each location, the microphones and cameras work together to "find" the current person speaking and focus the camera on them. When the next person speaks, one of the cameras move to lock in on that speaker. This feature has great potential to make the collaborations closer to the natural way they occur
EVALUATION
The quality of video between the two sites was exceptional with no noticeable delay or buffering that is sometimes noticed from a simpler Skype video call. The installers had some challenges in setting up the gear and getting it fully tested. The final testing was enough to show the future potential but enough issues remained to be worked though that kept this from being a full test with a live class of students. More testing will take place when the remaining technical set up issues are resolved.
This project involves partnership among IT departments and NCIS to set up and support a multi location video conference solution. This initial installation will connect Westmont main campus to the off campus Westmont downtown classrooms.
RESEARCH QUESTION:
If a multi location video conference system can be set up to connect students and faulty at individual sites how will this level of communication impact their work together? Additionally, what is the potential in this type of set up for connecting Westmont main campus to other Westmont off campus programs?
ACTION:
NIC partners designed and installed telepresence gear in two locations. The on campus location was WH216 classroom where three large video screens, three cameras and multiple microphones were installed and connected to a tablet for control. The system was connected to work over our campus network. The second room connected was the View room at Westmont Downtown (26 W. Anapamu st.) where one large video display on a cart along with one of the existing large video displays in the classroom were connected to a tablet for control. This was also set up to work over our campus network. In each location, the microphones and cameras work together to "find" the current person speaking and focus the camera on them. When the next person speaks, one of the cameras move to lock in on that speaker. This feature has great potential to make the collaborations closer to the natural way they occur
EVALUATION
The quality of video between the two sites was exceptional with no noticeable delay or buffering that is sometimes noticed from a simpler Skype video call. The installers had some challenges in setting up the gear and getting it fully tested. The final testing was enough to show the future potential but enough issues remained to be worked though that kept this from being a full test with a live class of students. More testing will take place when the remaining technical set up issues are resolved.