Though teleportation is still out of reach at SLAC, it’s easy to do the next best thing—videoconferencing.

"As a face-to-face technique, this really helps," said Art Bray (SCS), the videoconferencing coordinator. "A voice on the phone can say a lot, but an expression on the face can say a lot more."

"Videoconferencing is a more direct way to talk to colleagues across the region, the country or the world than using e-mail or even telephone conferencing," said Bray. At a cost of three cents per minute, it is economical, too. Most institutions have video conferencing capabilities; Bray has the complete list of these institutions.

Researchers use the two videoconferencing rooms in Building 50 to ‘meet’ with colleagues at other institutions, but the technology has other uses as well. Visiting professors have used it while here to teach classes at their home institutions, and a few graduate students have even given their dissertations via videoconference. During Take Your Kids to Work Day employees’ offspring used the equipment to communicate with each other from different rooms.

In addition to being ‘face to face’, users can share visual aids. The videoconferencing rooms are equipped with document cameras, and laptops can be connected to the system to display PowerPoint presentations or other files.

Bray can set up audio conferences, which can connect more people with better sound quality than an ordinary phone call would. He can also set up combined audio-video conferences, useful if not all the participants have access to videoconferencing equipment at their location.

"Theoretically, 10 or more sites could conference using either technique," Bray said. The SLAC conferencing rooms themselves hold 15 to 20 chairs, but each room’s capacity is flexible.

For more information on videoconferencing at SLAC, see: http://www-project.slac.stanford.edu/streaming-media/VideoConf/Default.htm