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 TEST CENTER Share drawings worldwide with eBeam By Randy Grein, For InfoWorld Test Center March 8, 2001 Hardware/software combo captures live whiteboard sessions and delivers them to remote employees, customers, and partners -- eliminating costly travel
Electronics for Imaging provides one such solution: eBeam Moderator 2.0. The hardware/software package captures notes and drawings from a standard white board (with dimensions ranging from 2 feet by 2 feet to 8 feet by 5 feet) into your computer. This drawing surface can then be shared immediately with others via the Internet or a private LAN, or saved for later distribution. Version 2.0 adds a few important features: audio capture for saved sessions and multiplatform support. The latter feature is particularly important for the home and education markets where a disproportionate number of users have Macintosh computers. Access to multiple platforms is provided through a Java applet that requires Microsoft Internet Explorer. Audio for interactive sessions has been announced for the next version, eBeam Presenter, but is not yet available. What makes eBeam unique is the capture hardware. Microsoft's NetMeeting provides a whiteboard applet for shared drawings, but some people find drawing with a mouse to be stilted and restrictive and complain that it destroys the flow and energy of a live presentation. To address this issue, the eBeam Moderator uses standard dry-erase pens loaded into pen holders which contain small Lithium batteries and circuitry for pen recognition -- a virtually identical experience to writing on a chalkboard. In addition, the rest of eBeam's hardware is easy to set up with clear pictorial directions. Two sensor pods are attached to the top left and right corners of the white board. Two cable connections, keyed with different sized jacks, attach to a serial port. Plug in the cables and the setup is complete. Only a miscue in the software installation marred an otherwise perfect setup. Once up and running, we were able to immediately capture sessions, and we required only minor reference to the documentation to share a meeting. Our testing included meetings hosted locally and on Electronics for Imaging's eBeam Internet server, with both PC and Macintosh clients. We evaluated network traffic and tested saved sessions. In all cases, eBeam performed admirably. Live sessions displayed rapid updates hosted from the Internet eBeam server or locally, and users joining a session were able to interact with the screen if granted permission by the moderator. With eBeam Moderator, you can enable real-time or saved whiteboard meetings and sessions without requiring recipients to install yet another software application. We would recommend this product for any business with a dispersed work force or clients and a need for remote training or free-form collaboration. We further recommend eBeam for remote or dispersed instruction when a live video feed may not be practical. In short, eBeam will be useful in any situation that calls for a traditional whiteboard meeting with people who are 5 miles or 5,000 miles away. Return to Test Center In Focus: Telecommuting Randy Grein (rgrein@sla.com) is a senior engineer for the Seattle-based consulting firm of Seitel Leeds & Associates.
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