[AG-TECH] echo-cancellation on the cheap?

[Bob Riddle]

I'm not so sure that such a "small version" is too far out of that 
$10K-20K range given the faster hardware & the work done by Insors & 
being done by Microsoft to reduce the number of machines required to 
support the AG software.

One could speculate that you might be able to run all necessary 
processes on one computer (say a fast SMP) using table top 
echo-cancellation mics (no Gentner need) and inexpensive projectors 
(don't need 2000 lumens for  a conference room) .... I think you're 
close to that dollar amount.  

I've wondered if you could point multiple vrm/arm-eventlistener's to the 
same DRM on the AG display machine.  We actually use some cheap baluns 
to sometimes move our video signals through cat5 cable - I could image 
having 4 different offices each having a "camera" and a RAT 
participating in the conference .... I realize this abuses the notion of 
sharing "meeting rooms" but I think it might help drive devlopment 
toward more affodable nodes.  I also would like to have every meeting 
room so equipped.

Have you tried using the VRVS AG support for receiving an AG seminar of 
interest?

David E. Bernholdt wrote:

>While Gurcharan raises a valid issue, from my point of view it is a
>matter of "ease" of deployment.  
>
>We have a single AG node at ORNL right now, and for a combination of
>practical and political reasons, its located 10 min walk from my
>office (even though I built it), and at least that far from the
>majority of prospective users.  That means usage of the AG node
>requires conscious intent.
>
>I'd like to be able to have an AG in every conference room in our
>Division, and looking further forward, I'd even like to have "personal
>AG" capabilities in each office -- maybe not the full AG, but enough
>to have reasonable meetings with 1-2 people at each of a couple sites,
>or to receive an AG-cast seminar.  I think this level of accessibility
>to the facilities would do a lot to promote the Access Grid.
>
>So if each node costs $70k, it is a lot harder to get people to spring
>for lots of them.  I don't know exactly where the thresholds are (and
>they'll vary by institution), but I would guess that if you could do a
>small conference room AG node for say $10-20k, people would happily do
>it.  And say at $5k, a personal AG node in every office is not
>unreasonable.
>
>Cost is not the only thing inhibiting wider deployment, but it is a
>significant one for most organizations.
>--
>David E. Bernholdt                   |   Email: bernholdtde at ornl.gov 
>Oak Ridge National Laboratory        |   Phone: +1 (865) 574 3147    
>http://www.csm.ornl.gov/~bernhold/   |   Fax:   +1 (865) 574 0680    
>