Check out this new product that YeOldeTechy hopes he will be able to get his hands on to evaluate for this blog.
Really quickly here is what the HeadThere Giraffe is:
1. It is a Videoconferencing System that works over the Internet.
2. It is a movable robot that allows the remote person to move, look up and down, etc.
Let me give an example that is close to this new Substitute Teacher's heart....
Suppose your school has a child that is sick (or physically handicapped) at home and can't make it to school. Using a Giraffe, and whatever network connections (WiFi Wireless (see here for more on WiFi in Tracy, CA) or 3G Cellular) and firewall openings are needed, they can, theoretically, move about the school campus and attend classes almost as if they were there!
There are a million other uses for this....suppose you are a Doctor and need to do rounds at a hospital but for some reason cannot be there. You can now wander the halls visiting your patients.
Now don't get too excited (which I have a tendency to do), this is not yet ready for prime time, but, after way too many years (and too many wrinkles) evangelizing videoconferencing, YeOldeTechy thinks this may possibly be one of the "killer apps" (if such a thing exists) we have all been waiting for.
See my web site for more applications of videoconferencing (written in 1997). Many of these applications can now be expanded in capability thanks to the Giraffe.
Let us hope that HeadThere succeeds and that the Giraffe becomes ubiquitous....it is about time someone has come around who has a futuristic view, and, has the resources to develop a technology that can truly change the way we communicate.
