[AG-TECH] Super PIG

[aspale1]

Hello,

I would just like to share with everyone that NCDM-UIC has successfully 
created a "super" PIG that has 2 webcams and an echo-cancellation 
microphone for small group AG sessions. I was not sure it was going to 
work but our sys admin here made the suggestion, and I happily discovered 
that this configuration worked. Although we are currently using a single 
display, there seem to be plans in the works to obtain another video 
display card that will allow for two displays (one for the node operator 
and one for the local participants). The two cameras really make a 
difference and do not seem to overpower the Dell Optiplex GX280 Pentium 4, 
1 GB RAM PC (with hyperthreading enabled). Although have cameras that 
adjust would be nice, the solution is sufficient for the lab's purposes.

The webcams that we are using are a Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000 (works 
perfectly) and the Creative Live Ultra for Notebooks (using the "Configure 
on Transmit" option in VIC prevents errors since the webcam driver cannot 
seem to "remember" the correct resolution and minimally makes VIC crash, 
and, in worse cases, makes Windows XP SP2 crash with a blue screen). The 
microphone is an echo-cancelling ClearOne AccuMic PC which works very 
well.


Allan

National Center for Data Mining (NCDM)
University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
http://www.lac.uic.edu