by John Gregory and Lisa Horan

The technology of videoconferencing — two or more people at different locations communicating through video and audio — places new demands on traditional conference rooms. Each meeting location becomes, in effect, a broadcast studio, so once-simple conference rooms have become more complicated to design.

Videoconferencing can involve two people at different locations communicating one to one, or an individual broadcasting to numerous locations, or many people at many locations talking and interacting with each other in a multipoint conference.

Although the choice and design of electronic components are most often delegated to specialists, architects should be aware of how the spaces they design will affect the performance of a videoconferencing system.

Like the choice between buying a sports car and a pickup truck, the choice of technology depends less on the options available (there are many) than on what your clients' needs are. Systems range from those of minimum quality, with low frame rates and resolutions, to those capable of broadcast-quality transmissions.   >>>

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A conference room for a medical technology developer has three display screens, two camera locations at the front and rear walls, and flush-mounted microphones in the conference table. Photo: Audio Visual Innovations, Inc. A surgical room at the University of Florida Brain Institute in Gainesville includes ceiling-mounted cameras and connections for fluoroscopes and other instruments. Doctors at remote sites can collaborate during procedures. Photo: Audio Visual Innovations, Inc.   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.