360-Degree Camera Part of Larger Microsoft Strategy

June 29, 2006 - Earlier this week, Microsoft announced its Office RoundTable audio-video collaboration device, featuring a 360-degree video camera. The RoundTable camera was revealed as a key feature of the company’s Unified Communications Product Road Map, which Microsoft says will “break down today’s silos of e-mail, instant messaging, mobile and VoIP telephony, and audio-, video- and webconferencing.”

Screenshot from a demo video of the 360-degree camera's interface, making the rounds on You Tube 

The Microsoft Office RoundTable camera is actually comprised of several cameras, whose images are stitched together in real-time, resulting in a 360-degree panorama. The RoundTable camera appears to have evolved from a Microsoft Research prototype called the RingCam which featured five 1394 digital video cameras, each capable of producing images at a resolution of 640 x 480. When combined, the total resolution of the cameras is 3000 x 480, representing the sum of the cameras’ total resolution, minus a 200 pixel horizontal loss at the image boundaries. A later RingCam prototype resembles the RoundTable design unveiled this week, and includes an omni-directional microphone array built into its base. Specs for the RoundTable camera, still in development, are not yet available.

The RoundTable camera will work with Microsoft’s Office Communications Server to deliver an “immersive conferencing experience that extends the meeting environment across multiple locations.” A demo of the videoconferencing client reveals an impressive interface that resembles a non-linear video editing workspace, with multiple windows and a timeline feature. A low-resolution panoramic view appears at the bottom of the application window, while a high-resolution image of the current speaker is located at the top left. The current speaker is automatically recognized via face recognition and audio source localization.

The Microsoft Office RoundTable camera is just one component in an initiative that would bring historically un-integrated technologies like video conferencing, VOIP, and instant messaging under the Office umbrella. The current webcam and video conferencing market is fragmented, with numerous players including Google, Skype, and Apple Computer vying for market share. As with any Microsoft announcement, this one is bound to have a seismic impact on makers of consumer electronics including video cameras.

The RoundTable camera is expected to be released the second quarter of 2007, along with most of the other technologies that are part of this initiative. The original press release for the Unified Communications Product Road Map can be read here.