| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Telecommunications software and services |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Fate | Defunct |
| Headquarters | Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (United States) |
| Website | www |
VenueGen was a browser-based web conferencing service created and marketed by The Venue Network. It was a 3D virtual meeting software that enables users to interact with each other using avatars. Users could host and attend meetings, conferences, and training with other colleagues and upload rich media into virtual meeting rooms for real-time collaboration.
History
In 2007, VenueGen was founded by business entrepreneur David Gardner. The virtual meeting software was developed by The Venue Network in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and became commercially available in early 2010. The VenueGen business application has been compared to Second Life's virtual meeting spaces. Its main web conferencing competitors wereWebEx, Fuze Meeting, and Dimdim.
Technology
VenueGen was software as a service (SaaS) that was built on a MMO engine and ran 3D graphics technology. It was a browser-based plug-in that was available as a download once logged on the VenueGen website. The software application ran on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OS X operating systems and was compatible with browsers Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or above and Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or above.
Avatars
The avatars in VenueGen were created using a licensed technology developed at the University of Southern California that converted a photo into a 3D model. The photo-generated 3D avatar face featured a set of morph targets that conveyed facial expressions. Facial expressions could be controlled by the user through preset buttons in-world.
Prior to entering a meeting, users could upload images of their own faces to create their photo-realistic avatars and choose from a built-in selection of hairstyles, clothing and accessories to resemble themselves.
During a virtual meeting, avatars made conversational gestures that were automatically driven by a user's own voice. Users also had the option to control the mood, body posture, and nonverbal language of their avatars to communicate as they would in a real meeting.
Venues
VenueGen had 36 different virtual meeting spaces including a board room, executive office, lecture hall, theater, sailboat, campfire, coffee shop, amphitheater and talk show studio where users could conduct their online meetings. The largest virtual room could accommodate up to 50 guests, the smallest 2 guests.
Audio
Users with a headset and a broadband connection could communicate through VoIP or dial-in from a phone line using one of VenueGen's designated conference phone numbers. Voices of participants were heard in-world through 3D positional sound audio that enabled users to locate and identify users speaking around the room.
Integrated Content
Screen sharing and content sharing supported integration of word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and digital media files. Documents used during the meeting were displayed on a viewer within the virtual rooms. The viewer(s) could be viewable by anyone in the meeting, or just one person depending on the venue and viewer chosen. Each viewer could display several forms of content simultaneously, including documents, or streamed feeds such as a webcam or Desktop sharing session.
References
- ^ "Virtual Conferencing". AVTechnology. December 17, 2009. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
- Adam Lewis (July 16, 2010). "VenueGen New Collaboration Capabilities for 3D Web Meetings". SMBnow. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- Dean Takahashi (March 21, 2010). "DEMO: VenueGen lets businesses stage quick and easy virtual meetings". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
- Chris Payatagool (August 5, 2010). "Web 2.0 for TelePresence or Life After Second Life?". Telepresence Options. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
- Xenia von Wedel (December 12, 2009). "Virtual Collaboration Becomes Business Reality with VenueGen". SYS-CON. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
- "VenueGen System Requirements" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2011. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- "VenueGen Releases Latest Version of 3D Virtual Conferencing Solution". Web Conferencing Reviews. July 27, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-22.
- Laurie Blake (November 19, 2009). "VenueGen offers a virtual, and fun, meeting place Workplace". Workplace. Archived from the original on April 14, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-19.