HALO Collaboration Studio - a new dimension to real-time communications

Technology struck another blow against the tyranny of distance yesterday when a first-of-its-kind collaboration studio for simulating face-to-face business meetings across long distances was debuted. The new HP Halo Collaboration Studio is a precisely-designed broadcast solution that enables remote teams to communicate in real time in a face-to-face environment. Participants can see each other in life-size images projected on three studio-quality displays with no perceived latency, regardless of how far apart the teams may be. Halo allows for interactivity between teams and enhances business connections while visually reinforcing the sense that meeting participants are in the same room. The product of yet another cross-pollonation of perspectives, Halo Collaboration Studio came to life in a partnership between Hewlett Packard and DreamWorks Animation SKG. While we’d love to say it’s available at a price affordable by every home, that’s still some way off. In smaller quantities, the rooms are approximately US$550,000 each, and pricing falls as the same company purchases more rooms. In the United States and most global business centers, the network and service fee is US$18,000 monthly per room. This fee varies in other countries depending on local telecommunications costs.

The HP Halo Collaboration Studio enables people in different locations to communicate in a vivid, face-to-face environment in real time. Whether across a country or across the world, users are able to see and hear one another's physical and emotional reactions to conversation and information as it is being shared. By giving participants the remarkable sense that they are in the same room, the Halo Collaboration Studio is already transforming the way businesses such as PepsiCo, Advanced Micro Devices and DreamWorks communicate across the globe. Halo significantly increases team effectiveness, provides faster decision-making capabilities and decreases the need for travel.

Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of the Imaging and Printing Group at HP, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive officer of DreamWorks, officially unveiled the collaboration studio in New York City.

"The HP Halo Collaboration Studio enables remote teams to work together in a setting so life-like that participants feel as though they are in the same room," said Joshi. "To create this experience, HP is harnessing its expertise in color science, imaging and networking in this new category of innovation. It's something we believe will not only disrupt the traditional video conferencing market, but will also change the way people work in a global market."

Early on in the production of the animated film Shrek 2, DreamWorks realized a significant return on investment using the Halo technology. By connecting its California teams in Glendale and Redwood City, DreamWorks was able to speed up many aspects of the production.

"In 2002, while we were producing Shrek 2, we realized that DreamWorks needed face-to-face collaboration between key creative talent in different locations," said Katzenberg. "We weren't satisfied with the available video conferencing systems, so we designed a collaboration solution that would fulfill our needs. HP took the system and turned it into Halo, which is now the only solution on the market that allows this kind of effective communication."

The HP Halo experience: A new dimension of executive collaboration

Unlike any other communication tool on the market today, the HP Halo Collaboration Studio is a precisely designed broadcast studio that contains all the components necessary to enhance business communication.

To connect via Halo, organizations purchase at least two Halo rooms set up for six people each. There are three plasma displays in each room that enable participants to see those they are collaborating with in life-size images. The rooms come equipped with studio-quality audio and lighting and participants use a simple on-screen user interface to begin collaborating with just a few mouse clicks.

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