Sure, NASA’s Maestro program, the primary software tool used by scientists to operate the Mars Exploration Rovers from JPL, can be downloaded for free. You can use it to follow along with the rovers’ progress during the mission. So what?
And Carnegnie Mellon’s EventScope provides first-hand access to 3D data right from NASA. The free software can download actual Mars photos and users can collaborate within an immersive virtual environment. The EventScope Authoring Tool lets you author and edit navigable 3D remote experience using any VRML model or NASA Mars data. Big deal.
Discover the 3rd rock. The first live video from Antarctica is using CONTACT 2.0 software ($900) which runs on a PDA or laptop. It allows you to snap a digital picture, write a dispatch, and upload it to your website where viewers can follow your adventure.
With CONTACT 2.0 you can upload video clips to the internet, even from super slow satellite phone connections provided by Iridium and Globestar. Gateway’s tiny $200 camcorder records MPEG-4 videos on SD chips. The SD chip can then be inserted into a handheld computer and uploaded.
Tim Laurer, the sharpest guy in Oregon, uses TypePad and Buzznet to post pictures from his PDA. TextAmerica, the free mobile webpage solution, can post short videoclips to a moblog (via phonecams). mCLASS (Mobile Classroom Assessment), is PDA software that enables teachers and students to beam assignments and create reports.
Uploading text and pictures from a PDA might require GVCommander for ftping photos. A Treo 600, with an RSS reader or a PocketPC with PocketRSS, Fonix voice command and text-to-speech reader might enable real-time collaboration between dozens of people all over the world. Make your own news. Microsoft’s Portrait supports live video, voice and chat on a PocketPC. All the time. AT&T’s EDGE can deliver 130kbps while Verizon’s EV-DO cellular connections will provide 300 kbps. Everywhere.
Imagine a 2 week bike trip with daily audio and video uploads, live chat and videoconferencing at any Starbucks. Or live webcasting direct from your bike on the Seattle To Portland ride.
A PocketPC running Portrait on your handlebars could connect via cellphone. Ham radio operators using the Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS), can track you all the way. This is not rocket science. Kevin Sites filing stories from Iraq, doesn’t have it so easy.
Ramona (below) is the photorealistic avatar host of KurzweilAI.net. She’s also the first live virtual performing and recording artist. Read about her history, check out her pictures, and listen to her songs!
Let BushCo buy Texas and Florida.
This is reality. Now.
