June 7, 2010
IVCi Designs Virtual Lecture Hall For Duke University’s Fuqua School Of Business
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IVCi integrated a Cisco TelePresence solution in a lecture hall at Duke University’s Fuqua
School of Business, designing the system to accommodate the 140-seat space.
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DURHAM, NC—To prepare students for
today’s global business environment,
Duke University’s Fuqua School of
Business’ curriculum includes material
and lectures by subject matter
experts who include distinguished
professors, business leaders, and
guest lecturers. In the past, arranging
for these experts to speak to classes
was often challenging, as it could
sometimes take two to three business
days for a guest to travel to the campus
and deliver a presentation. “We
needed a more efficient way to provide
students with the opportunity
to interact with some of the world’s
leading business decision makers,”
said Duke’s technical project manager
Tom Freeland.
The Fuqua School of Business
turned to advanced technology,
choosing to pioneer the use of Cisco
TelePresence in higher education by
installing a system in one of its lecture
halls. TelePresence is a natural
choice for the classroom environment,
where live interaction between
lecturer and student is critical to successful
learning. “This technology
was chosen because of the extreme
high quality of the calls,” Freeland
said. “There is very little latency with
the Cisco system, and its performance
is far superior to traditional video
conferencing.” In addition, Duke has
a large infrastructure that is based on
Cisco technology.
Duke chose IVCi to design and
install the TelePresence system in a
traditional classroom with stadiumstyle
seating for up to 140 people.
IVCi designed the system to accommodate
a larger audience size than
traditional TelePresence systems,
while still maintaining the authentic
TelePresence experience.
“When we started there were just
two projectors in front of the room,
and the instructor would use a PC
or document camera to project onto
the screen,” said Timothy Hennen,
IVCi’s SVP of audiovisual integration.
“The TelePresence integration
created a new mode of operations—
Duke instructors and subject matter
experts are now able to share ideas
and content through their PCs or
document cameras with local and
remote students.”
The lecture hall includes three
Panasonic TH-103PF12UK 103-
inch plasma displays, mounted on a
custom-built wall designed to bear
the weight of the equipment, three
Sony EVI HD7V 1080p cameras,
and three Cisco TelePresence 1080p
cameras for both panoramic and
life-size immersive video experiences.
An additional three Panasonic
TH-32LRT12U displays allow the
instructor to view remote classrooms
from the podium.
The instructor’s podium was outfitted
with two Wolfvision VZ-C12
document cameras for sharing class
material. A ‘TelePresence’ mode was
added to an existing Crestron touchpanel
for access to the system. “We
programmed an existing Crestron
control system so that it would be
easy for anyone to pick up and use it
for TelePresence calls,” Hennen said.
“TelePresence mode allows the user
to select multiple content sources to
be shared locally and with the remote
site. In addition, we created simplified
scenarios for the camera and
monitor, which are based on class
size and instructor location.”
Sixty-six Shure MX329/C custom
push-to-talk microphones were
installed and configured to trigger
cameras to zoom in and capture a
life-size view of the speaker. “Video
processors were used to change from
the fixed Cisco panoramic cameras
to the feature cameras based on the
scenario’s rules sets,” Hennen elaborated.
“All camera movement was
hidden from view. Camera switching
occurs only when the feature cameras
are locked in place, emulating
the audio segment switch technology
inherent to the Cisco codec.”
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