NEW YORK – The days of first-class flights to lavish tradeshows have given way to sitting in coach and shrinking show-floor suites, but the long-predicted days of trading travel altogether for telepresence have yet to materialize.
Instead, the goal of telepresence, and its implementation, has changed in the past few years as tablets proliferated, Skype and FaceTime got consumers comfortable with video interaction, and enterprises looked for ways to increase productivity.
Indeed, Chris Thorson, director of marketing at Polycom Inc. (Nasdaq: PLCM), admits the term "telepresence" has been bastardized by images of huge screens, expensive setups, and office overhauls. But, now, he says, it's an immersive, interoperable, and open experience, one that can be right-sized for anything from an app on the iPhone to a boardroom at a Fortune 500 company.
To show off the possibilities, Polycom has built Experience Centers across the globe, the latest of which opened in New York City earlier this summer. Light Reading visited the new digs to see the technology in action. Click on the image below to launch a short slideshow of our visit.
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Editor, Light Reading
Heavy Reading's recent research seems to agree. Check out Tim's post from last week: http://www.lightreading.com/author.asp?section_id=193&doc_id=705223&