You can do some really cool things with telepresence and effective visual collaboration! Here is a compilation of videos from the HPL's YouTube channel (1.5MM views of our posted content, 367 subscribers, and 23,800+ channel views) showing real organizations using their telepresence and videoconferencing systems for everything from surgical education to tele-psychiatry and from distance learning to crowd gathering. You can even see Telepresence Options publisher and HPL President Howard Lichtman in a funny hat.  A special thanks to Christopher Welch from Glowpoint who came up with the idea and helped me find so many excellent examples of interesting applications.     



1.    Surgical Education



Posted by the Human Productivity Lab: "video footage of the unveiling of the MedPresence Surgical Education Suite at Barrow Neurological Institute.  The system is used to teach surgical residents without there having to be present in the operating room and can be used to teach seminars and symposiums around the world. 


2.    Entertainment & Virtual Keynote Speeches



Posted by GlowpointVideo: "Glowpoint provided the solution that featured keynote speaker filmmaker Martin Scorsese (in New York) to an audience in Los Angeles as part of the home entertainment industry's second annual Blu-ray conference, called Blu-Con 2.0, on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.")


3.    Education & Distance Learning




Duke University inaugurates the opening of its Cisco TelePresence TelePresence lecture hall with three 103-inch plasma displays, six 1080p cameras for both panoramic and lifesize immersive video experiences, an instructor's podium with two document cameras for sharing class materials, three remote student displays for the instructor to view remote classrooms from the podium, and 66 custom push-to-talk microphones for interactive discussions. Press Release Here.


4.    Healthcare


Posted by Verizon: "Dr. John Halamka, CIO of CareGroup Health System, uses FiOS to stay ahead at work and home."


5.    Telemedicine



Posted  by tandberg1: "Yorkhill Hospital uses videoconferencing to bring expert advice to the bedside of babies and children hundreds of miles away. TANDBERG visual communication technology is used to examine x-rays and to view newborn babies' heart ultrasounds. Parents can also use the video link to discuss treatment with a specialist."

6.     Telepsychiatry


Posted by Polycom Videos: "Brian Levin, director of telemedicine at a behavioral health company, explains how telepsychiatry is used to deliver timely, high-quality emergent psychiatric care in hospital ERs."

7.    Corporate Integration




Posted by ivciVideo: IVCi's Custom Telepresence Solutions and Audio Visual Integration Divisions successfully provided a fully customized Cisco TelePresence solution for GE for corporate training.
.

8.  Distance Learning & Education



Professor David Edelstein's "Causes of War" in a Georgetown University  Polycom RPX Telepresence Classroom connected to another Polycom RPX system on Georgetown's campaus in Doha, Qatar.  Complete Story Here.


9. Entertainment / Marketing / Art / Crowd Gathering



The Telectroscope was part public technological artistry, part-marketing, part fun and all kinds of cool.  A live video link between New York City and London that appeared to be a Victorian-era telescope linked across the pond by a tunnel through the earth. 
Complete Story Here.

 10.  Hospitality & Publicly Available Telepresence


Tata Communications is rolling out Cisco TelePresence Systems at hotels around the world where you can rent a quarter of a million dollar telepresence system with a credit card.
 
About the Authors

Christopher Welch is the corporate communications manager for Glowpoint. Mr. Welch has pioneered major television and event-related productions in the New York Metro area for more than ten years. At Glowpoint, his public relations' events include: "Mission: See Your Soldier' programs, featuring celebrities Dr. Phil and Charlie Daniels, connecting U.S. families with their soldiers overseas; the MTM-CNM Family Conference, featuring former NFL Lineman Paul Frase, uniting affected families worldwide via video. Prior to joining Glowpoint, Welch produced and/or co-produced programs for the White House, Fred Friendly Seminars, and Cablevision.


 
Howard Lichtman is the Publisher of Telepresence Options and the President of the Human Productivity Lab, an independent consultancy that helps organizations develop telepresence and effective visual collaboration strategies. Mr. Lichtman is the author of The Inter-Company Telepresence and Videoconferencing Handbook.  The Lab provides corporate clients with acquisition consulting, RFI/RFP creation, and ROI/TCO financial modeling on telepresence systems, telepresence managed services, and inter-networking telepresence. The Lab also provides investors with prescient insight into the rapidly growing telepresence industry.  Mr. Lichtman is also the Editor of the monthly newsletter Telepresence Options Telegraph