Article from Rediff.com (English)

Homepage of OOPSiSee (English)

Linux PCs & prices in India from Tamil Linux World (English)

Article about inexpensive web kiosks from Tenet.res.in (English)

This technology enables developing countries to implement wide area networks for teleconferencing applications which are really helpful to even the poorest people. From the Rediff article:

"Half-a-dozen kids sit huddled in front of a personal computer concentrating hard to grasp everything that the face on the monitor is saying. The tiny kiosk, where these kids are sitting, does not boast of any specialised equipment or high bandwidth. It has just one PC and one Web cam. Yet every day, children crowd this kiosk to interact with their teacher Meena, who is based in far-off Chennai.

...

"Today, 150 villages use this technology on a daily basis and more than 500 villages would soon come into the loop. 'We are looking at the possibilities to improve the educational standard of the village children. With Oops I see, all that the village classroom needs is a PC, a Web cam and a dial-up connection. A qualified teacher from a city can take classes for the children and that too, interactive ones,' Jalihal explained.

...

"Rural healthcare has also been one of their concerns, Jalihal confessed. If the system that some of the hospitals use for telemedicine costs around Rs 500,000, the technology -developed by the experts at the IIT-Madras - which can function as well as the others, costs less than Rs 30,000 (about USD 620 - ed.)! Ayyar pointed out that the villagers, instead of taking expensive trips to town to consult a doctor, can now use their system and avail of the same benefit without venturing out."

From the OOPSiSee website:

"...we realised that if this was going to work - it needed to work reliably in 'low bandwidth' (sub 20 Kbps) conditions. Also, the saying 'if you can't see somebody, you wait; if you can't hear anybody you leave' made us focus on ensuring that delivering audio was given a higher priority.

...

"Conference Server:

Works on Linux

Ability to control clients with varying a/v and bandwidth capabilities

Change active speaker/co-speaker to enable everybody to see each other at varying times

Ability to serve participants in both private and public network interfaces (NAT, static/dynamic IP clients)

"Unified Client:

Works on Microsoft Windows

Simple and easy to use Graphical User Interface with command-line options

Supports MV4 (Multiplexed Video 4) file format for a/v recording applications

When compared to other similar systems, iSee provides better performance (increased video frames/second, better image quality, improved audio) when using similar hardware, software and network infrastructure.

This application is ideally suited for typical multi-party conferencing situations such as distance education (with the teacher in the central location and students in remote locations), e-governance, collaborative research, remote monitoring, etc."

Obviously this technology is appropriate for a huge need in India and other developing countries. Although the client is only available for Windows, the Linux version will soon be available; the audio already works, and the video is not far behind. This is according to the Different OS page

We have not tried the software yet, as we don't have a camera; but we hope to test it soon. In Costa Rica, where most people are limited to a 24K dialup connection due to the government monopoly and incompetence, this technology could be very useful.

Willy Smith, reporting from Costa Rica