by Steve Meloan
by Steve Meloan
At the 1964 World's Fair in New York City, a wide array of "futuristic" devices purported to someday revolutionize our world. Among them, was The Picture Phone -- a telephone with a small screen upon which you could see the calling party, and they, in turn, could see you. Much debated, both technically and sociologically, in the ensuing decades, nothing much ever came of the idea ... until now.
Enter CU-SeeMe, a software facility which turns your desk-top computer into that mythical beast last seen at Flushing Meadows over thirty years ago. And all for the price of a local call -- over the Internet.
CU-SeeMe creators in 1993 followed in the hallowed technological footsteps of other ground-breaking, computer-era innovators by traveling outside the corporate mainstream. The group, members of Cornell's Information Technology department, launched CU-SeeMe into cyberspace for any and all to use entirely for free.
Initially written for Macintosh by Tim Dorcey, the project has since greatly expanded. Richard Cogger now heads up the project, along with a team of eight other developers. In addition to its most elementary configuration, a one-to-one connection between any two parties (known as "point-to-point"), CU-SeeMe provides a simple but elegant video party-line facility, already being utilized world-wide. Again, that's anywhere in the world, for the price of a local call! It is the visual equivalent of the Internet chat-rooms currently so popular on services such as America Online.
The hardware overhead is essentially nil. The CU-SeeMe software itself can be downloaded over the modem, direct from Cornell. Any newer Macintosh or PC will allow you to view CU-SeeMe programs. To broadcast, one needs only the addition of a video card and camcorder, or better yet, a low-end digital black-and-white camera currently available from Connectix Corp. for under $100. Complete. This creature sits cradled atop your computer monitor, looking like a small white-plastic baseball with an embedded plastic eye. CU-SeeMe transmissions occur out of "reflector" sites. These are high-end "broadcasting" computer servers, each acting as the equivalent of a mini, digital-television station. They determine what you can see when connected to that particular site.
Most reflectors act as the equivalent of public-access cable facilities. Anyone can broadcast through them. As is currently the case with the Internet in general, this is not at all rigorously regulated, and is subject to "Netiquette" i.e., don't put anything out there you wouldn't want your mother to see. Your feed is then freely disseminated to any and all who happen to connect to that site.
Although still in its infancy, there are already well over fifty CU-SeeMe reflectors on the books. As with the early television networks, some operate only during specified hours. And only a handful are deemed "public," the rest being tied to corporate and/or educational entities, with varying degrees of regulated usage.
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© Copyright 1995 Urban Desires
