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Down the Road, But In the Works: 3-D Video Calls From Skype

Posted by timothy on from the via-second-life dept.

An anonymous reader notes that Skype is reportedly working on a 3D version of its messaging application. As reported by the BBC, an unnamed senior executive says that rumors to this effect are true. However, don't get too worked up about sending your avatar to school or to work just yet: Microsoft's corporate vice-president for Skype, Mark Gillett, says that "the capture devices are not yet there. As we work with that kind of technology you have to add multiple cameras to your computer, precisely calibrate them and point them at the right angle. ... We have it in the lab, we know how to make it work and we're looking at the ecosystem of devices and their capability to support it in order to make a decision when we might think about bringing something like that to market." Also at SlashBI.

16 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. I don't want 2D video by Threni · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why would I want 3D? I thought 3D was dead anyway - no-one wants it anywhere.

    Microsoft, trying to innovate. How embarrassing. Surely there's another company they can buy some kinect-like tech off to at least give the impression they have a clue about what's going on in the industry?

    1. Re:I don't want 2D video by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why would I want 3D?

      I am not sure if 3D is the answer, but we need more realistic immersive technology. We consume millions of barrels of oil every day to physically move people to the same location as other people, so they can interact and collaborate. Telecommuting with current technology just doesn't work well for most people. We need some sort of holodeck that allows people to be fully immersed in their work environment without being physically present.

    2. Re:I don't want 2D video by dj245 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why would I want 3D?

      I am not sure if 3D is the answer, but we need more realistic immersive technology. We consume millions of barrels of oil every day to physically move people to the same location as other people, so they can interact and collaborate. Telecommuting with current technology just doesn't work well for most people. We need some sort of holodeck that allows people to be fully immersed in their work environment without being physically present.

      We need a system where I look at someone's image in the eye, and from their perspective they are looking at me in the eye. This is basically impossible to do with current technology. You can try to fake it in various ways, but the illusion is never perfect. Until this happens videoconferencing will always be an inferior means of communication.

      If someone could figure out how to embed cameras in a display panel, that would be the best solution. A stopgap solution is to have a very small camera on a small tripod and putting it directly infront of the other person's face on the screen, but this isn't a great solution.

      --
      Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
    3. Re:I don't want 2D video by doesnothingwell · · Score: 2

      We need some sort of holodeck that allows people to be fully immersed in their work environment without being physically present.

      Management needs the holodeck to measure productivity by the level of discomfort on the slaves faces, its about the effort. The hardest working boss is always available to promote how hard he's working. Getting that image of "the hard working minions" to his boss is the biggest challenge. Show the boss your visible suffering and your most of the way to success in business.

      "Peter, You've been missing a lot of work lately."

      --
      They can have my command prompt when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
    4. Re:I don't want 2D video by icebike · · Score: 3, Funny

      You're going to look silly wearing your 3d glasses every time you meet on Skype to whisper sweet nothings just between the two of you and the NSA.

      Skype is off all of my machines since microsoft pulled all the streams through its own servers.

      (I actually suspect the NSA funded Microsoft's purchase of Skype strictly to get it into the hands
      of someone who would play their game, because Microsoft stripped every innovation out of skype
      that allowed privacy and network robustness).

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
  2. FTFY by wbr1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    As we work with that kind of technology you have to add multiple cameras to your computer, precisely calibrate them and point them at the right angle. ... We have it in the lab, we know how to make it work and we're looking at the ecosystem of devices and their capability to support it in order to make a decision when we might think about bringing something like that to market."

    It requires laptop manufacturers to place two cheap webcams in the lid instead of one, and the appropriate software. We have it in the lab and would like to launch. We are currently in liaison with our armies of attorneys and MBAS to make sure that all our patents, copyrights and other vendor lock in is correctly set up to maximize corporate profit at the expense of consumer flexibility and satisfaction. Only one the attorneys are done will we bring the product to market.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:FTFY by omnichad · · Score: 2

      It would also require an autostereoscopic screen unless you want to video chat with glasses.

    2. Re:FTFY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I want to chat wearing an Oculus Rift so that folks on the other side think I'm with Daft Punk.

    3. Re:FTFY by Charliemopps · · Score: 2

      no, they are doing the shutter technique. Every other frame is left - right left - right. You just have to blink each eye 30x per second alternately.

  3. 3D... by bmo · · Score: 2

    ...because 2D sexting is not enough for Anthony Weiner!

    "heh heh heh he said weiner" - Beavis

    --
    BMO - puerile enough for you!

  4. Skype can barely handle regular calls... by sinij · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Skype can barely handle regular voice calls, why do you think it is up to the task for anything else?

  5. Google+ Hangouts are going HD Now by tuppe666 · · Score: 2

    Its going to use VP8 over H.264 too the reasons. " Chew says that VP8 will be able to deliver HD video to up to 10 people at a time, which is something H.264 couldn't handle. VP8 will also take up less bandwidth than H.264, allowing Hangouts to deliver better looking video at lower bit rates. And VP8 will also allow Google to begin transitioning Hangouts over to WebRTC, an emerging set of video and audio standards" http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/28/4668326/google-hangouts-getting-720p-hd-video-upgrade

  6. huh? by JustNiz · · Score: 2

    >> vice-president for Skype, Mark Gillett, says that "the capture devices are not yet there"

    Wow that was a bit of a slip. There is and its even a Microsoft product. Seems to me this is exactly the sort of thing Kinnect is useful for.

  7. Re:Not 3D. by Arkh89 · · Score: 2

    As if stereoscopy was the only to perceive depth clues... You forget about depth of focus, parallax motion, occultation, and cognitive processes, such as knowing the size of an object and its apparent size...

  8. Cool!!! by TheSkepticalOptimist · · Score: 2

    Because 3D is the next big thing in....oh wait everybody is pulling out of 3D content these days.

    Leave it to Microsoft to be way behind on current consumer trends.

    --
    I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
  9. Bloat by Loki_666 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Can the Skype team stop adding more and more crap to it, and start removing some of the existing bloat?

    I want an instant messenger, not something that takes minutes to load, minutes to fetch messages (many of which i already read on another comp or on my phone, but it still alerts me like they are new messages), and when finally loaded i get bombarded with ads that do not interest me in the slightest, or offers to connect Skype to Facebook and the like, something i already told it to go do something anatomically impossible about more than once.

    Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
    Antoine de Saint-Exupery