Blog: Dan Power

« IHOP, Linux and the role of IT executives | Main | Oracle OpenWorld--Getting Started »

Videoconferencing over IP vs. Meeting in Second Life

This past week I was in a videoconference and I had various meetings in Second Life. Given I try to blog at least weekly, I thought I would comment on the pluses and minuses of each technology.

Approximately once a month, 5 or 6 colleagues and I use Marratech for a Midwest Association for Information Systems (mwais.org) board meeting. We have been meeting regularly since January 30, 2006.

The current Treasurer of MWAIS, Chelley Vician, Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Michigan Technological University (http://www.mtu.edu) in Houghton, Michigan, arranged for us to use the Michigan Tech Marratech® server.

The Marratech website (marratech.com) describes the technology scenario. "Imagine holding meetings and video conferencing on the web, face-to-face, whenever you want. To talk, see each other and share applications and documents without being in the same room, the same building, or even the same country - that's exactly what Marratech® will do for you."

To participate in the video conferences I purchased a Logitech QuickCam IM with a headset for approximately USD$35 at Wal-Mart. The camera has a flexible clip so I could mount it easily on the top of my flat panel display. Installation was easy. I also downloaded and installed the free Marratech client software. Chelley sent me some directions and a web link. I signed on about a half hour prior to the first meeting and Chelley helped familiarize me with the operation of the talk button and the whiteboard.

I have been using Second Life (secondlife.com) for small and large group meetings since May 2007. SL materials note "Say good-bye to conference calls and say hello to real-time 3-D collaboration. The Second Life Grid allows for projects as limitless as the imagination."

Well I like using both technologies. Each has a role to play in decision support. It is great to see moving images of the people you are talking with and have access to the whiteboard using Marratech. In some ways the videoconference is more task oriented and more ordinary. Using Second Life adds an imaginative dimension and the meetings are somehow more creative.

The MWAIS Executive Board has held one meeting in Second Life and more than 20 video conferences. It will be interesting to see how much and for what purposes we choose to use Second Life rather than a video conference.

Midwest Association for Information Systems (MWAIS) is sponsoring a workshop in Second Life with the theme "Beyond first life: e-Learning in Second Life" on Saturday, November 17, 2007:

Panelists: Blake Ives, Brian Mennecke, Benn Konsynski, and Tony Adams
Moderator: Dan Power
Audience: Faculty and Ph.D. students (and other interested parties!)
Organized by: Simha R. Magal

Reference

Power, D., "How does the use of a Communications-Driven DSS impact a
decision-making meeting?" DSS News, Vol. 7, No. 4, February 12, 2006.

Share: