Search

Technological innovation from the invention stage to the last stage of successful commercialization is not a smooth path. Some technologies become a stunning overnight success, while others take a long time or fail completely. One technology that took a long time and suffered many setbacks is the videophone and its related computer software. Even though the videophone was the most widely expected innovation during the late 1800s, right after the invention of the telephone, it did not become a regularly used technology until the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. The videophone's long road from invention to successful commercialization is described in this research study according to five stages: invention, laboratory, demonstration, market formation, and successful commercialization. It took the videophone and video calls 142 years to become a success!. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People living with rarer dementias face considerable difficulty accessing tailored information, advice, and peer and professional support. Web-based meeting platforms offer a critical opportunity to connect with others through shared lived experiences, even if they are geographically dispersed, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: We aim to develop facilitated videoconferencing support groups (VSGs) tailored to people living with or caring for someone with familial or sporadic frontotemporal dementia or young-onset Alzheimer disease, primary progressive aphasia, posterior cortical atrophy, or Lewy body dementia. This paper describes the development, coproduction, field testing, and evaluation plan for these groups. Methods: We describe a 3-phase approach to development. First, information and knowledge were gathered as part of a coproduction process with members of the Rare Dementia Support service. This information, together with literature searches and consultation with experts by experience, clinicians, and academics, shaped the design of the VSGs and session themes. Second, field testing involved 154 Rare Dementia Support members (people living with dementia and carers) participating in 2 rounds of facilitated sessions across 7 themes (health and social care professionals, advance care planning, independence and identity, grief and loss, empowering your identity, couples, and hope and dementia). Third, a detailed evaluation plan for future rounds of VSGs was developed. Results: The development of the small groups program yielded content and structure for 9 themed VSGs (the 7 piloted themes plus a later stages program and creativity club for implementation in rounds 3 and beyond) to be delivered over 4 to 8 sessions. The evaluation plan incorporated a range of quantitative (attendance, demographics, and geography; pre-post well-being ratings and surveys; psycholinguistic analysis of conversation; facial emotion recognition; facilitator ratings; and economic analysis of program delivery) and qualitative (content and thematic analysis) approaches. Pilot data from round 2 groups on the pre-post 3-word surveys indicated an increase in the emotional valence of words selected after the sessions. Conclusions: The involvement of people with lived experience of a rare dementia was critical to the design, development, and delivery of the small virtual support group program, and evaluation of this program will yield convergent data about the impact of tailored support delivered to geographically dispersed communities. This is the first study to design and plan an evaluation of VSGs specifically for people affected by rare dementias, including both people living with a rare dementia and their carers, and the outcome of the evaluation will be hugely beneficial in shaping specific and targeted support, which is often lacking in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In video relay service (VRS), the interpreter is the only person who is directly linked to both users of the service, seeing the signing user of a videophone and hearing the speaking user of a telephone. The interaction is especially challenging at the beginning of the call. In this study, 25 authentic recorded calls from the Swedish VRS were analysed using conversation analysis. The aim of the study was to explore and describe in detail how the interpreters facilitate and strive for progression at the beginning of a VRS call. The study findings show how the interpreters provide information to the signing callers about their progress prior to the call being accepted, how the interpreters manage the spoken interaction with the called party on the telephone and how the interpreters connect the parties to each other. It is also shown how the interpreters work to make the deaf callers master a call. The results of the study enrich our current understanding of calls made via VRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic enforced an almost complete switch from face-to-face clinical work to tele-neurology. This study explores neurologists' perceptions of telephone and videophone remote consultations.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with neurologists and a GP with a specialist interest (n = 22). Interviews were conducted remotely via Zoom®, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the principles of thematic analysis.Results: Four main themes emerged: 'unknown unknowns (risks/uncertainties)', 'better service', 'challenges', and 'beyond the pandemic'. Thematic saturation was achieved by interview 19. Participants highlighted a number of benefits of remote consultations but over 80% also complained of a reduction in work satisfaction.Conclusion: The sudden introduction of tele-neurology is unlikely to be fully reversed when pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted. However, this study confirms tele-neurology cannot completely replace face-to-face consultations. Some patient groups and consultation types require direct contact. Moreover, significant administrative and infrastructural investment will be required to develop the full potential of tele-neurology.Practice Implications: Tele-medicine is capable of improving access and efficiency of specialist neurology services, but limited by lack of non-verbal communication and technical problems. It could enhance service provision with sufficient infrastructural and administrative investment, but may reduce neurologists' job statisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategy of social video communication service based on TV was discussed and introduced,and system deployment solutions in current network were proposed.For good social experience and communication quality,the key technologies were analyzed,including screen adaptation,video overlay,real time video codec and video quality self-adaption etc.At last,by laboratory testing,the whole solutions can be applied in current network feasibly.

This paper presents implementation and evaluation of a proposed acoustic echo and noise canceller (AENC) for videotelephony-enabled personal hands-free internet protocol (IP) phones. This canceller has the following features: noise-robust performance, low processing delay, and low computational complexity. The AENC employs an adaptive digital filter (ADF) and noise reduction (NR) methods that can effectively eliminate undesired acoustic echo and background noise included in a microphone signal even in a noisy environment. The ADF method uses the step-size control approach according to the level of disturbance such as background noise; it can minimize the effect of disturbance in a noisy environment. The NR method estimates the noise level under an assumption that the noise amplitude spectrum is constant in a short period, which cannot be applied to the amplitude spectrum of speech. In addition, this paper presents the method for decreasing the computational complexity of the ADF process without increasing the processing delay to make the processing suitable for real-time implementation. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed AENC suppresses echo and noise sufficiently in a noisy environment; thus, resulting in natural-sounding speech. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction: We performed a comparative study of a health education programme that was delivered either through one-way communication with printed media, or through interactive videophone interviews. We aimed to ascertain which mode of counselling, when used in combination with telemonitoring, is more effective at lifestyle modification intended to improve health status.Methods: Participants, who were residents of Kurihara city in Miyagi prefecture, Japan, were randomized into two groups: one group received individualized monthly documented reports (n = 33; 22 females; average age: 67.2 years), and the other received interactive videophone communication (n = 35; 22 females; average age: 65.1 years) for three months. Telemonitoring was conducted on both groups, using a pedometer, weighing scale and a sphygmomanometer. Pre- and post-intervention, anthropometric measurements and blood tests were performed; the participants also completed self-administered questionnaires.Results and Discussion: The two groups showed similar degrees of health status improvement and satisfaction levels. However, the participants in the videophone group were more aware of improvements in their lifestyles than were the participants in the document group. The individualized printed communication programme was less time-consuming compared to videophone communication. Further studies are needed to formulate a balanced protocol for a counselling-cum-telemonitoring programme that provides optimal health improvement and cost performance with the available human resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of visual communication services to develop a wide business domain. Topics covered include the overview of visual communication services at mobile phone company NTT Group. Also mentioned is the expansion of the service to better connect people to their friends and loved ones.

Aims: We conducted an intervention study to clarify how effectively a telemedicine system using a multi-functional videophone could be used in lifestyle guidance, with special focus on diet for diabetic patients cared for at home. Methods: Patients were assigned to a 3-month intervention group or to a usual care group. In the intervention group, patients and a medical professional communicated bi-directionally through a videophone-based communication system for 30 min, once a week. The participants were encouraged to send pictures of each meal online, through the videophone system, in real time. Results: In intra-subjective comparison, the 3-month intervention program resulted in a significant decrease in body weight (BW) ( p < 0.0005) and average HbA1C level ( p < 0.005) compared with before the intervention program. Three months after the conclusion of the intervention program, average HbA1C levels returned to almost the same levels as before intervention ( p < 0.05). In the usual care group, average HbA1C level did not change significantly for 6 months. Conclusions: 3-month intensive communication using the multimodal videophone system led to a significant decrease in BW and average HbA1C level. This novel bi-directional communication is useful for improving conditions such as diabetes, BW, and hyperglycemia for homecare diabetes patients, thus, reducing cardiovascular risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore user perceptions of videophone communication in different long-term care settings by comparing interview transcripts of a study involving residents of a congregate living facility (CLF) and family members with findings of a case study involving a resident of a skilled nursing facility (SNF) and family member. Methods: Semistructured interviews by telephone and in person were conducted with residents and family members, with both studies using an interview guide with similar questions. Results: All themes found in the SNF study were also identified in the CLF data. There was consistency between studies in preferences for videophones (over telephones) for affective-oriented conversations and perceptions of acceptable usability. Both yielded generally acceptable technical quality, although 2 of 8 CLU participants'' concerns were likely barriers to adoption. Conclusion: Consistency in findings lends validity to the earlier SNF findings and suggests some degree of reliability across these settings. Additional insights were gained in the CLF study, a new context in the resident-family videophone communication literature. The theoretical framework of social presence and communication bandwidth holds promise as applied, but further explication and operationalization are needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Telehospice, the delivery of end-of-life care using telecommunications technologies, allows increased interaction between providers and patients. For telehospice to be successful, it must first be accepted by professionals as a useful and user-friendly method of service delivery. Existing research regarding provider acceptance of telehospice has been limited in geographic scope and has often excluded input from key members of the hospice team. This study measured telehospice acceptance in a national sample of hospice professionals from various disciplines (N = 160). Results indicate that acceptance was moderately high overall, although significant differences existed among individuals from different disciplines, with nurses and administrators generally indicating higher levels of acceptance than social workers and chaplains. Findings demonstrate that telehospice interventions will likely be more readily accepted by nursing and administrative staff members, while those employees who address primarily psychosocial issues may be reluctant to use such technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time of uncertainty over film and television texts being transferred online and on to portable media players, this article examines one of the few visual texts that exist comfortably on multiple screen technologies: the trailer. Adopted as an early cross-media text, the trailer now sits across cinema, television, home video, the internet, games consoles, mobile phones and iPods. Exploring the aesthetic and structural changes the trailer has undergone in its journey from the cinema to the iPod screen, the article focuses on the new mobility of these trailers, the shrinking screen size, and how audience participation with these texts has influenced both trailer production and distribution techniques. Exploring these texts, and their technological display, reveals how modern distribution techniques have created a shifting and interactive relationship between film studio and audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot study introduces videophones into the homes of elderly caregivers of dying patients, evaluating their usefulness as a communication tool. A total of 12 senior caregivers from two hospice agencies were recruited into the study. Portable videophones were installed allowing caregivers to conduct video-calls with hospice staff. Findings indicate that the anxiety scores significantly decreased (p<0.05) for participants over time. Differences in quality-of-life scores (including individual dimensions as well as overall score) were not statistically significant. Staff members at one of the participating hospice agencies were originally reluctant to recruit caregivers to the study. Videophones were perceived as easy to use by caregivers who overall saw benefit in the visual feedback during their communication with hospice staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This case study examines the uses, perceived advantages and disadvantages, and expectations of videophone communication by a nursing home resident and a geographically distant family member. Methods: Interviews were conducted with these participants, one in person and one by phone. Results: Themes identified suggest that, with the added visual component, there are additional uses and psychosocial benefits of videophone communication when compared to the telephone for both nursing home residents and family members. Conclusion: The study suggests that the use of the technology is not only feasible in an institutional setting but also beneficial. Further research with larger groups is supported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Over the course of the last decade, the equipment used by news organizations to transmit text, voice, and images from locations without fixed or operational communications links has changed radically. Whereas remote real-time transmissions once required tons of satellite uplink equipment. generators, and a stable of technicians, approximately the same can be accomplished today with a laptop sized device and handheld digital camera. This sort of technological prowess was seen most recently in the 2003 war in Iraq. We hypothesize that, as a result of these technological developments, the likelihood of newsgathering from remote locations has increased. By "remote location," we mean any place without the standard technical infrastructure (fixed satellite uplinks or high-speed terrestrial lines). Most often, remoteness of this sort is a feature of nonurban, less developed regions of the world. This hypothesis is a critical but untested presumption underlying recent debates concerning the CNN effect, event-driven news, and other aspects of the changing nature of size relationships between news media and policy. In our analysis, we find evidence of a decrease in the effects of remoteness on levels of U.S. media coverage of distant events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in student's attitudes toward the use of low-cost videophone equipment as a tool for interacting with elderly residents. Students enrolled in four undergraduate social work courses were asked to observe and participate in a social history interview with a resident volunteer from an assisted-living facility located in north Mississippi. In order to measure changes in participants' attitudes toward technology, students completed the Student Telecommunication Satisfaction Questionnaire prior to and immediately after observing the interview. It was hypothesized that students would demonstrate a positive increase in their attitude toward the use of technology to deliver health care services after being exposed to such technology. The results of this study provide partial support for the hypothesis. In general, students responded positively to the use of videophone technology as a means of augmenting more traditional forms of communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to compare text telephone relay service and videophone relay service. The target group was people borne deaf. The following aspects were investigated: (1) socioeconomic costs, (2) costs of different actors, (3) qualitative aspects of the services, (4) outcomes (intermediate effects and quality of life). The study was longitudinal and measurements were made at three occasions. Data collection was made by post-mailed questionnaires. Of the 41 respondents, 16 persons had access to the text telephone relay service only and 25 persons had access to text telephone relay service supplemented with videophone relay service. The ratings of the quality of the services and the outcomes were significantly higher for videophone relay service than for text telephone relay service (at a 95%-level). The incremental cost was approximately SEK 40 000, or EUR 4 510 (1 EUR = 8.87 SEK, as of 31 December 2000) higher per person and year for the group with access to both text telephone relay service and videophone relay service compared with the group with access to text telephone relay service only. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some radically new, technological products soar smoothly from introduction to stunning market growth, just as textbooks say they should. However, that is not always the case, nor is it even the most likely outcome. The case of the videophone is an extreme one to be sure but it offers six important lessons that apply to many other radically new technological products: (1) not every new technology leads to stunning market success; (2) just because the press says it will, does not mean it will; (3) growth often takes longer than expected; (4) growth often reaches lower levels than expected; (5) technological convergence is not a certainty; and (6) innovations involving complex systems face more hurdles to market acceptance than “stand-alone” innovations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A statistical model-based video segmentation algorithm is presented for head-and-shoulder type video. This algorithm uses domain knowledge by abstracting the head-and-shoulder object with a blob-based statistical region model and a shape model. The object segmentation problem is then converted into a model detection and tracking problem. At the system level, a hierarchical structure is designed and spatial and temporal filters are used to improve segmentation quality. This algorithm runs in real time over a QCIF size video, and segments it into background, head and shoulder three video objects on average Pentium PC platforms. Due to its real time feature, this algorithm is appropriate for real time multimedia services such as videophone and web chat. Simulation results are offered to compare MPEG-4 performance with H.263 on segmented video objects with respects to compression efficiency, bit rate adaptation and functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ITU-T H.261 is a video coding standard for videophone and video-conferencing applications on LAN and ISDN, which requires a great amount of computing power for DCT and motion estimation, traditionally provided by hardware. Since motion estimation is a major problem in developing real-time video codec, in this paper we propose a simple and fast motion estimation algorithm to reduce searching time. Mainly, a real-time software-based H.261 video codec is investigated and implemented, in which several fast methods such as programming technique and Intel MMX™ instruction are used to improve computing speed. The experimental results have demonstrated that our H.261 codec can compress video in CIF format over 30 fps and in QCIF at 105 fps, and can achieve a very high decoding rate. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol 12, 73–83, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ima.10013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Telecommunications is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The design and realization of 64kb/s digital monochrome videophone,which has been implemented in hardware,is discussed in this paper.The structure graph of hardware system,as well as flowsheet of control software in codec is showed. Some suggestions,including the improvement of image quality and the increasement of frame frequency,are also presented.

To understand how video telephone technology could support consultations between pathologists and surgeons, this study looked at what constitutes 'work' in clinical consultations. Using several methods (participant observation, video and interviews), we found pathologists and surgeons both share and do not share similar understandings of what a consultation is, what one should achieve in a consultation, and what in fact constitutes a 'successful' consultation. Furthermore, the same objects of consultation (the products of 'offstage' work) can be used and defined quite differently depending on how a consultation is framed. Differences and disjunctions like these have to be better understood if computer-supported cooperative healthcare work (CSCHW) applications are to be adopted and accepted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Telecommunications is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Annals of Telecommunications is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Annals of Telecommunications is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Two major ISDN applications which will undoubtedly affect world-wide telecommunications in the coming decade are discussed. They are: (1) video transmission and (2) image transmission. Brief reviews of videophone chronicle and the current video coding technologies are presented. The application of videophones using p × 64 (CCITT coding algorithm up to 1·5 Mb/s) and the DCT (discrete cosine transform) algorithm for narrowband ISDN are discussed. Broadcast TV quality DS3-45 MB/s video codecs are also briefly discussed as a probable videophone system in the broadband ISDN era. The explosive growth of facsimile services is reviewed, and the progress of image coding technologies and their standards are covered. The prospects of high resolution image transfer systems with ISDN are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]