Meetings get Hollywood treatment

Video conferencing system developed in conjunction with film production studio DreamWorks

HP has launched a new video conferencing system developed in conjunction with film production studio DreamWorks Animation.

The HP Halo Collaboration Studio is a fully managed service that allows people in different locations to see and hear each other over an audio-visual link in real-time with virtually no latency.

DreamWorks' chief executive, Jeffrey Katzenberg, said, "We got the ball rolling on this in terms of the big idea, but HP integrated the systems and network for Halo."
The Halo system consists of a room, set up with desks positioned opposite three high-resolution LCD screens, above which are three high-definition cameras, a further LCD screen for sharing laptop screens, and a projector with a zoom facility for close-up inspection of articles.

HP has already rolled out over 25 Halo rooms. "We are targeting the Fortune 1000 companies," said Michael Hoffman, HP's senior vice-president for the Image and Printing Group. He added that HP was looking for "deployments in three digits by the end of 2006".

IT Week tried Halo over a link between New York and London and found that the system worked well, though the audio quality was slightly below par. We could also control a laptop screen connected in New York via VGA, and use the overhead camera to zoom in on small objects.

The network behind Halo consists of a 45Mbit/s T3 optical fibre cable and HP said the video connection uses standard MPEG 2 codecs and no Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) hardware.

Currently only two rooms can be connected at once, but other people can dial into a conference over a phone link. But capabilities to link more rooms are planned.
The service is not cheap. A Halo room costs £287,000 + VAT plus a monthly network and service fee of £10,000 + VAT per room. However, Katzenberg said that the system paid for itself in about four to five months at DreamWorks thanks to savings in travel and staff time.