Crossing The Channel

What kind of experience does the TV Cam offer?
“It’s almost a progression of video conferencing in a business environment and bringing a scaled back version of that into the home. Logitech own a company called LifeSize videoconferencing solutions. I regularly use Lifesize systems, hooked up to 50” screens, for speaking to product developers. It’s much more inclusive than a phone call. You feel more like you’re having a one on one interaction with a person. The TV Cam brings remote interaction into the living room. It’s a much more personal experience than a PC.”
Is Skype the primary use?
“Yes, the TV Cam is a Skype product. We designed it to bring people closer together. You’re sitting in your living room and the person you’re talking to is on your TV. It’s a completely full-sized interaction with that person. It’s very different to the Skype experience of sitting in front of your PC and staring at the screen or camera. That almost closed box experience when you’re talking to someone on computer.”
How do you know if someone wants to get in touch?
“The Cam has a ringer. It rings like a normal telephone and you can choose whether or not to answer it. The ringer works if the television is off.”
Does it work best if the other person also has a TV Cam? Otherwise you’re going to get a big webcam head on your television.
“There’s no denying that. Ideally, the other person has one too. But because it’s Skype, it works if they don’t. At least they get to see you in a natural environment.”
A remote control comes with Logitech TV Cam. What does this do?
“The usual bits and piece that you expect from a webcam. It pans and tilts, zooms in and out. There’s volume up and down. There are four microphones built into the camera. Your TV is usually a few feet away from your couch, but the microphones are very sensitive so you can sit at a difference and it will pick up your voice.”
Is it complicated to set up?
“Not at all. That’s always something that worries me when I first take a product out of a box. How simple is this going to be to use? You connect it to the TV, switch it on. It either needs an Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi. It will find your Wi-Fi network, you input your code, and you’re presented with the typical Skype log in screen. That’s it.”