Australian PC World - Videoconferencing for the rest of us, on the Net

Videoconferencing for the rest of us, on the Net

Tip
Can CU-SeeMe do for conferencing what Mosaic did for the Web? The University of Illinois's free NCSA Mosaic browser was the spark that ignited the World Wide Web. Cornell University's free CU-SeeMe conferencing software has been slower to take off, but it could play a similarly dramatic role in jump-starting Internet videoconferencing.
CU-SeeMe lets you yak long-distance using your PC's sound board and microphone. To see how it works, download the latest version of the 16-bit Windows program from Cornell's Web site (http://cu-seeme.cornell.edu/). To get started receiving video only, all you need is a real Internet IP address.
You'll find a FAQ file at http://www.indstate.edu/msattler/sci-tech/comp/CU-SeeMe/. Or sign up for tips by e-mail by subscribing to the CU-SeeMe mailing list. To subscribe, send the message SUBSCRIBE CU-SEEME-L first last (where first and last are your first and last names) to listproc@cornell.edu. Be sure to leave the subject line blank.

See and be seen over the Net using Cornell University's free CU-SeeMe software. Say, who's that handsome devil in the fez?

Add Connectix's QuickCam camera, and your video pals will be able to see you, too. But before you order a QuickCam, note: you don't need a video camera or a sound board to participate. To send and receive audio, you do need a sound card, a mike, and speakers or headphones.
The program's chat window gets more use than its audio feature, and you can see the people you're typing to (if they have video cameras), even if they can't see you. Most CU-SeeMe reflector sites (Net servers that receive video, audio, and text, then reflect all three out to logged-in users) allow a certain number of lurkers (users without cameras). Senders (users transmitting video) usually have an easier time gaining access to reflector sites, though.
The black-and-white QuickCam costs about $230; the colour model, about $500. White Pine Software's Enhanced CU-SeeMe 2.1 adds colour support, a shared whiteboard, and other improvements to Cornell's freeware version. Download a demo from http://www.cu-seeme.com
One warning -- anything goes on most CU-SeeMe reflectors. If you're not ready for provocative stuff, stay away.
- Scott Spanbauer

Category: Internet, Multimedia
Issue: May 1997
Pages: 176