HaiVision's MAKO-HD Telepresence Codec Transmits First Live Stereoscopic 3D High Definition Surgical Procedure Using IP Video

Custom Search

What’s the difference between Video Conferencing and Telepresence?

Telepresence picks up where video conferencing left off. Telepresence IS real time, full-high-definition, immersible sound and vision. Telepresence IS most importantly: the feeling of being “there” when you’re “here”. Telepresence is lifelike, video conferencing is not. Telepresence is that hi-line Mercedes AMG, video conferencing is a Ford Escort - Period.

Why Telepresence now?

Video conferencing has been around a while now but has always lacked the feeling we spoke about above. Jumpy computer screens, broken audio and poor lighting add to the impersonal touches of video conferencing (ie slow motion camcorder on top of your computer monitor). Finally, technology, bandwidth, vision and sound have all converged on video conferencing to create the telepresence experience. It’s about time! Crystal clear surround sound and real-time full-high-definition visual effects enhance the feeling of being there – thus telepresence. That nervous twitch, roll of the eyes, sniffle, tap of the foot – things you see when you’re present and sitting across a conference room table – things you don’t see or feel from video conferencing, but do with telepresence.

Today, what “real” uses are there for Telepresence?

There is no short answer even possible here. We’ll name a few, more like we’ll put your imagination to work. Imagine a single specialist doctor in Canada treating patients in Haiti via telepresence. Robots in space doing the actual work while the telepresence operator dons his telepresence helmet and gloves at his workstation in Texas. Meeting your Russian company vice president while you’re in the executive telepresence room at the office in Denver. Just a few…

What are “real” savings of Telepresence?

Your imagination still working on the last answer? Don’t let up yet! What carbon footprint? Don’t need that airplane ticket to go check on your staff in Russia now do you? What lost life in the Iraqi war? Unmanned drones and soldiers via telepresence. Military and combat cost savings? Immeasurable. Less travel costs, airline frustration, fuel, lost time, carbon emissions, etc. Those are tangible, real savings to name just a very limited few.

You starting to see what telepresence can do that video conferencing can’t? We hope you see what we’re seeing! Telepresence – its time has arrived!

Check out the video thread in Section 8 of the Telepresence Forum where you can watch some Telepresence YouTube videos! If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million!

Ride on the "Next Plane of Existence" TM

Montreal, Canada (PRWEB) June 24, 2008 -- HaiVision Systems Inc., the world's leading vendor of performance H.264 network video codecs, announces that today at the annual meeting of the Canadian Urology Association (CUA) in Edmonton, Canada, the industry leading MAKO-HD video encoder/decoder technology is being used to transmit live surgical stereoscopic 3D high definition 1080i video from Intuitive Surgical's daVinci S robotic surgical system.

Orchestrated by Capital Health's Centre for the Advancement of Minimally Invasive Surgery and BEAM Regional Telehealth, attendees at the CUA meeting at the Shaw Conference Center are witnessing a comparison between robotic and traditional approaches to a urology procedure (radical prostatectomy). In this unique event, both traditional and robotic surgeries are being performed simultaneously within advanced Stryker equipped operating rooms at the hospital and are being broadcast live to the conference center for comparative purposes. The conference center is 2 kilometers from where the surgeries are taking place. In order for attendees to fully experience the 3D technology employed by the surgical robot, the two high definition sources from the surgical robot (necessary for the 3D effect) are being transmitted over a high speed network using HaiVision's MAKO-HD codec technology. Attendees are viewing the 3D surgery using polarized glasses and Lightspeed Design, Inc's DepthQ stereoscopic processing and systems integration technology.

"The stereo high definition video that we are receiving at the conference center is stunning," states Gayle Burnett, Regional Director for Capital Health's Centre for the Advancement of Minimally Invasive Surgery. "Most important for the effort was to retain synchronization between the video streams so that the stereo effect is maintained. HaiVision's technology accomplishes this absolutely and with imperceptible latency."

HaiVision has a long history of enabling remote viewing of medical video, as HaiVision codecs were first used for the transmission of standard definition stereo video from the daVinci system for live telerobotic surgery demonstrations at the American Telemedicine Associate conference in 2005. HaiVision's newest codec, the MAKO-HD, is ideal for medical applications, supporting the highest resolution and the lowest latency (70 milliseconds) available with the latest H.264 video compression technology. HaiVision has as well introduced SHARE-HD, a network video recording system designed for medical applications capable of recording and replaying multiple synchronous high definition video streams.

The MAKO-HD is the high definition video encoder/decoder available within the hai1000 network video system and supports up to 1080p resolution. The hai1000 multi-stream system, integrated within the systems of HaiVision's OEM clients, is the world's leading codec for telepresence.

For complete information on the MAKO-HD and hai1000 products, please visit HaiVision's download center at http://www.haivision.com/account/downloads/.

About HaiVision Systems Inc.:

Based in Montreal, Canada, HaiVision Systems Inc. is a private company and a world leader in delivering the most advanced video networking technology. HaiVision's products are deployed worldwide within the foremost telepresence suites and boardrooms, in healthcare facilities for video collaboration and training, for continuous presence distance education and remote learning, and within broadcast for remote interviews, IPTV, and content distribution.

For further information, please contact:

Peter Maag                

HaiVision Systems Inc.    

Tel: (514) 334-5445            

Email: pmaag @ haivision.com

Web: www.haivision.com

###