Image: source

In this day and age, businesses, state and non-governmental organisations, as well as private individuals have a range of communication tools to choose from. They can make a phone call, start a conversation using instant messaging, send each other emails, use social media or even arrange a video conference if they want to speak using some kind of face-to-face contact.

Video conferencing is one of the fastest-growing forms of online communication, and has been used for a variety of purposes. Not only has it been used by businesses with global client bases to communicate with people from the other side of the world, but in areas such as healthcare, it’s been used to enable doctors to speak to patients without having to make a home visit.

Net gains

The recent growth in the popularity of video conferencing is largely down to increasing bandwidth and internet speeds. When video conferencing technology was finally worked out during the 1990’s, it struggled to take off initially because a comparatively huge amount of bandwidth was required to make it work, but as both grew, the capability for online video conferencing kept pace.

Today, it doesn’t require a huge amount of effort to arrange a video conference – in just a few minutes to invite people and get started. It’s also possible to have a conference with three or more people present, and it’s likely that as internet speeds improve further, the quality of the picture and overall service will improve, while the future promises some exciting developments.

Three-dimensional and easy

Perhaps the biggest change in the pipeline for video conferencing is the possible move towards using 3D technology. It might seem like such an odd move, but for something that’s seen as the next best thing to actually meeting face-to-face, it could work well. The international communications specialist Powwownow commented:

“At the moment, it might seem that there’s little room for improvement in video conferencing, but the possibility of 3D technology being involved could take it to the next level. It could make presentations more vivid and, for businesses, could help them to dazzle clients in so many ways.”

Increasing interactivity

What people want to get from their video conferencing software is interactivity, and the way in which 3D could be utilised could do just that courtesy of life-sized holographs of everyone involved. When you move, your holograph does the same, which will add a surreal yet impressive element to an otherwise-ordinary video conference.

While this technology isn’t available yet, when it’s perfected and made for a mass market, it could revolutionise communication as we know it. Gesticulation will be amplified, while it also helps to liven up what would sometimes be a dry meeting.

At first, 3D video conferencing will be expensive, but once companies behind the technology work out how to bring costs down, it could become a fixture in every office, home or even classroom. Aside from holographs, screens that create a 3D effect could also figure, although that technology is still in the developmental phase.