Thanks to Robin Good and his post last week, yesterday I had the opportunity to join a tour around 3D collaborative software, called SmartMeeting that creates a true virtual meeting place. It was an amazing experience in many respects and here is what I saw. (For more technical specs read here or here).

Imagine you are in a game but instead of shooting aliens and other assorted monsters, you meet people who are real, sitting at their computer terminals anywhere in the world. No shooting though.

Upon registration you get to chose an avatar and release him into the community. Well, into a virtual complex of offices - a large meeting room, two smaller lockable rooms and a relaxation area. The environment matters as we get to use all our senses when interacting in a physical space. And this is what SmartMeeting aims to simulate. It is good that the interface follows the gaming conventions, it will help many a game-addicted executive to feel right at home there.

There are several main functions to help you run a virtual meeting:

1. Video function - with each participant watching the same image on the screen within SmartMeeting office. The connectivity is visible on the screen and you can watch a video, run webcam or video-feed.
2. Document function - documents can be uploaded before or during the meeting and presented on the main screen within the virtual office
3. Internet function - allows you to use bookmarks, you can type in url and click on the main screen, scroll through the content. Everyone in the room can see the browser windows presented
4. Whiteboard - allows people to draw and format with a variety of formatting tools. Very clear and usable.

The idea is to provide as much reality as possible. Video-conferencing as we know it works for some people but SmartMeeting offers a better combination of video and audio technology and manages to create collaborative environment that is also interesting and pleasant.

Everything seems to be subjected to the main objective and that is to create communication as in the real world - for example, the sounds are spacial i.e. if you walk away or turn it fades as when out of earshot etc. Participants can take part in longer sessions without losing attention, as they using more senses.

The avatar pictures need quite a bit more work, ideally they should be as close to our appearance as possible to get the maximum benefit out of such an immersive environment. I gather that is something that is being worked on.

Also, to really get the sense of 'human' interaction, I think it would be good for individual avatars to be able to convey more motions and expressions. There already is a menu of options such as noding, waving, smiling, even yawning and that's a good start. However, given that the 3D space could leapfrog people through 'getting to know each other' process, it should make a use of many more tools. I think the open source principle of not limiting the user applies here. By providing many more tools that are strictly necessary for a business meeting, it may be possible to discover further interesting applications of SmartMeeting.

This is because users like to experiment with different tools differently and often manage to surprise those who design those tools for them. I believe this will happen providing the overriding objective remains simulation of real world interactions.

I certainly enjoyed the experience and will be making a good use of the 30 day free trial. On the practical, i.e. technical side, there are a few glitches that can be annoying, such as files not downloading properly, audio not kicking in 100%. These are very important, if SmartMeeting is to take the mainstream by storm, but I have all the confidence that this will be sorted out as much as the current technology allows. I have seen enough to know that people behind SmartMeeting are smart enough to know that too.

Note: For another account of personal experience of SmartMeeting read here.

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