The whole team here at Zugara is very excited to finally be able to tell you about an R&D project we partnered with Orange Silicon Valley on: “Project DocPAL”, an augmented reality telemedicine system that uses natural user interfaces, Interactive Voice Recording, and other innovative technologies to help improve the quality of doctor patient consultations (please see the video below).
One of the pieces of emerging technology that Project DocPAL utilizes is our proprietary ZugSTAR software. ZugSTAR allows people in different locations to have shared Augmented Reality experiences from within their video feeds. For this project, it’s a Doctor and a patient. For our ecommerce augmented reality software, it would be two (or more) shoppers. The use cases are somewhat endless.
For several years now, we’ve talked about how augmented reality will ultimately change people’s lives, and how it can be so much more than just a marketing gimmick, or an overlay on your smartphone’s video feed. Hopefully projects like this help people see the potential that we see in the technology. It truly is so much more than a video playing on a marker. It’s the beginning of a whole new way of interacting with data… The Natural User Interface (NUI).
We’re truly honored that the amazing team over at Orange Silicon Valley chose us as their partner, and we’d love to hear your thoughts on the project below.
Video Credit: Adam Odessky, Product Manager and Software Developer, Orange Silicon Valley
With the surge in online Augmented Reality, we often get asked, “How many people actually have webcams?” Given webcams are becoming a standard accessory to new laptops (and desktops) we’ve spent some time compiling numbers that we’d like to share:
79% of laptops now have webcams. (source: PC world)
72% of 18-20 year olds own a laptop. (source: Pew Internet & American Life Project)
83% of college students own a laptop. (source: Student Monitor)
More than 50% of Gen Y owns a webcam. (source: Cisco)
As of March 2011, more than 40% of Skype minutes involve video to video calls (source: Skype)
Furthermore, on recent web-based Augmented Reality projects we’ve launched both on our own (Cannonballz) and for clients, we’ve seen on average approximately 78% of users with webcams enabled.
With the continued growth of video chat and Augmented Reality, it’s an inevitability that webcam’s will be a standard of any PC experience in the near future. Though most web-based Augmented Reality is a solo experience, with the growing popularity of video chat, we can expect to see Augmented Reality evolve to a one-to-one and even one-to-many proposition. The following press announcements from Google, Facebook and Skype help to show how video chat is integrating itself into the social experience:
Social Media is all the rage now, but interactive video chats will help evolve conversations and collaboration to an even more real-time experience. If you haven’t seen our ZugSTAR prototype, take a minute to check it out below to see how the interactive video chat experience can work from anything to Virtual Dressing Rooms to Telemedicine.
So the numbers above show that there is avid consumer interest for broadcasts that happen over the net, in realtime and streamed. But what of Interactive Video Conferencing? Though the events above offer social media integration they aren’t ‘true’ interactive video conferencing events. To date, most of these livestream broadcasts allow people to chat with one another about the event as it’s happening or to pose questions that a moderator will ask the subject of the livestream itself. But is this true ‘interactivity’? I would argue a definitive no.
Skype and live 1-to-1 video conferencing systems offer interaction between connected hosts in a live, connected video feed. So there’s already an inherent difference between the current examples of ‘livestreams’ and the systems in place for ‘video conferences’. Conferences being the keyword that implies basic live video interaction between stream members. But, apart from making headlines on Techcrunch or Mashable, most videoconferencing and livestreaming hasn’t achieved a level of critical mass adoption yet.
Twitter was the catalyst to help microblogging explode onto the scene and even went so far as to create an ecosystem around it – url shorteners, service clients (Tweetdeck, Seesmic) and so on. Similar patterns are emerging with the recent massive growth Chatroulette is experiencing. Part of this is due to curiosity (like every new trend) but I would wager that Chatroulette itself has just become the catalyst for interactive video conferencing and will accelerate adoption of video conferencing by the masses.
Here in no particular order are a few stats on the webcam and videoconferencing ecosystem:
Markets for webcams at $1.8 billion in 2008 are anticipated to reach $3.2 billion by 2015. You can see by this stat alone that by 2015, most new computers should be webcam ready or have an integrated webcam installed.
As of March 2009, 40% of video uploads on Facebook were via webcam. I would guesstimate that by now this number is in the 55-65% range as webcam usage has most likely continued to gain traction on the Facebook platform.
Gartner predicts that 200 million people will pay for desktop videoconferencing by 2015. I’m not sure how pay is being defined since it will be extremely hard to change current consumer mindset as Skype and like services are either ad-supported or free to use for video conferencing.
Note: Chatroulette is a new video chat service that can be very NSFW (Not Safe For Work). It is suggested you read here before going to the site so you know what to expect.
So these are ‘official stats’ but what of Chatroulette? Since the service has only been out a few months, there’s not much in way of official stats but here’s what I’ve been able to dig up or have seen after using the service:
Traffic has almost doubled in a week from 20,000 concurrent users on 2/13 to almost 40,000 on 2/20
Approximately 75% of users seem to fall into the 18-24 age group.
Though there is still quite a bit of obscene content, it seems to have diminished ratio wise with the larger traffic numbers. Maybe more ‘normal’ people are starting to use the service
An ecosystem around Chatroulette is already developing. The 1st out of the gate – software that allows you to modify your live video stream. Manycam is one such system which allows for Augmented Reality-like features such as applying animations to your face through facial tracking.
The most important observation – clones of the service are already appearing in record time – Redditroulette, Tinychat and others.
So what Chatroulette has shown is that there is definitely consumer interest in and a market for interactive video conferencing – especially with the Gen Y demographic. This is not surprising as both Gen Y and Gen Z are demographic sets that will be growing up with these types of interactive systems in place (similar to initial text based chat systems that were in place for Gen X.)
Furthermore, Chatroulette has shown that a simple UI and Flash based video conferencing system can work – efficiently and effectively. This probably isn’t good news for startups and tech companies that have been trying to sell 5-6 figure teleconferencing platforms and systems to businesses. Expect to start seeing ‘generated backlash’ against the Flash-based technology even though the genie is already out of the bottle.
Finally, this recent surge in traffic with Chatroulette shows that desktop based video conferencing only has room for growth. As adoption grows, we’ll also see more advanced uses of video conferencing which include more advanced interactivity. This is the main reason we developed ZugSTAR technology to allow Augmented Reality based interactivity between video streams.
In summary, it remains to be seen if Chatroulette itself is a fad or the next Twitter. However, what is has shown is that interactive video conferencing is here to stay and is positioning itself to be the de facto method of communication very soon.
Any comments, hit me up on Twitter @kobrakai or leave comments below.
ZugSTAR Combines The Interactivity Of Augmented Reality With The Immediacy Of Live Video Conferencing
For all press inquiries, please contact: press(at)zugara(dot)com
February 4, 2010, Los Angeles – Today Zugara is introducing “ZugSTAR” (Zugara STreaming Augmented Reality), a technology that allows people in different locations to have shared Augmented Reality experiences from within their video feeds. Picture a web based video conferencing system similar to Skype*, but with the added functionality of being able to see one another’s “augmented” experience in real time. With ZugSTAR, Augmented Reality becomes a technology that facilitates collaboration, and physical distance becomes less of a barrier.
As a proof of concept, Zugara has already integrated this prototype within their Webcam Social Shopper to create a more engaging, and social, online retail experience. Whether its two lifelong friends attending different Universities, or a mother in NY who wants some quality time with her daughter in Dallas, online shopping can now be a more emotionally satisfying experience. And with the effectiveness of traditional forms of advertising in steep decline, what brand wouldn’t want to facilitate that type of branded experience for their consumers?
The video below demonstrates both the Webcam Social Shopper integration, and a few potential use cases that are currently in development:
“While integrating ZugSTAR into the Webcam Social Shopper is a natural extension of the tech, it’s certainly not the full extent of our vision.” said Matt Szymczyk, CEO, Zugara. “Gartner predicts that by 2015 200 million people will be paying for desktop video conferencing. Now, I don’t want to sound hyperbolic, but this tech has the potential to impact virtually every single industry. Anywhere distance is a barrier to real-time collaboration, ZugSTAR has the potential to provide a tremendous amount of value.”
To illustrate Matt’s point, here are a few potential use cases for ZugSTAR:
EDUCATION (DISTANCE LEARNING): A science teacher can field questions and twist and turn a DNA helix as he/she explains their answers.
MEDICINE: 3D models of an fMRI will allow a Dr. to either consult with other Dr.’s, or explain the test’s results directly to a patient.
PUBLISHING: Augmented Reality Pop-Up Books can enable a parent that’s on the road to help their child to learn how to read.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: A 3D model (e.g. of a shoe or a building being developed) can be shared, and discussed, with colleagues, clients, vendors, and partners.
CASUAL GAMING: Augmented Reality based casual games can now be multiplayer.
So, what do you think? What other industries can this technology impact? We’d love to get your thoughts in the comments below.
About Zugara’s Proprietary Augmented Reality Technologies
The Webcam Social Shopper
For more information on the Webcam Social Shopper, click here.
Cannonballz, A Casual Game Using ZugMO Motion Capture Technology
Zugara, a member of the Augmented Reality Industry guiding “AR Consortium”, is an interactive marketing company focused on emerging media and technology. Zugara’s main areas of expertise include interactive video, social media, mobile marketing and website / application development. In addition to the strategic marketing based services we provide for our clients, Zugara also creates proprietary Augmented Reality technologies and products, including The Webcam Social Shopper, and a web based motion capture interface, ZugMO. Founded in 2001, and based in Los Angeles, Zugara is currently in the process of expanding and opening a second office in New York.
www.zugara.com
www.zugarastudios.com
Copyright 2010 ZugSTAR Technology
Copyright 2009 ZugMO Technology
Copyright 2009 Zugara Inc.
Patent Pending
*Skype is not affiliated in any way with ZugSTAR, and was just used to give readers a frame of reference.
We Are Organized Chaos (WAOC) is Zugara’s (www.zugara.com) interactive marketing and advertising blog where we’ll be featuring some great projects and discussing upcoming trends in the digital world. Work — good and bad — will be critiqued. Hope you’ll enjoy reading our insights and thoughts on interactive.
