ProtoSphere 2.0 Feature Peek - New User Interface

I can't tell you how excited I am to announce that ProtoSphere 2 is right around the corner. There are so many new features in this product and I can't wait to share all of them with you.



Since ProtoSphere 2 has so many new functions, I'm going to do a series of peeks over the next couple of weeks.

This first feature peek focuses on our enhanced user interface for ProtoSphere 2. You will get to see all of the ehancements that we made to the toolbars, menus, people lists, 3D window and the new ProtoSphere action bar.

I don't want to spoil everything here...so click the picture and see ProtoSphere 2 in action.

As always, take care, and I'll see you in world.

Dom

ProtoSphere Standard Edition Feature Peek: Add YouTube and other Web-hosted videos to Presentation Boards

A few weeks ago, I showed you an upcoming ProtoSphere Standard Edition feature that will let you upload and play videos on Presentation Boards.

In addition to uploading video files from your computer, you'll also be able to bring videos into ProtoSphere via a URL path, such as from YouTube. This gives you greater flexibility in what Flash content you can use in ProtoSphere, and how you can bring it in.

ProtoSphere Standard Edition Feature Peek: Add Flash content for interactive learning

The other week I showed you a new feature we're adding to ProtoSphere Standard Edition that will let you upload and play back Flash videos on Presentation Boards. But that's not all you'll be able to do with Flash in ProtoSphere.

You'll also be able to display any Flash-based content on ProtoSphere's Presentation Boards, such as courseware materials or other interactive learning modules.

ProtoSphere Standard Edition Feature Peek: Video playback on Presentation Boards for team knowledge sharing

In the current version of ProtoSphere, Flash video clips display in a child Web window. We're working on adding a new feature to an upcoming version of ProtoSphere Standard Edition that will let you upload and play back videos directly on Presentation Boards in your environment.

Mac support to come to ProtoSphere Standard Edition

ProtoSphere was built on Windows. In fact, it is the only virtual environment of its kind to be built exclusively on Microsoft technology. But that doesn't mean Mac users can't take benefit from ProtoSphere as well.

Over the past year, we've had many requests from users for a Mac version of ProtoSphere. That's been a result of increased use of the application outside of the enterprise with external, customer-facing engagements, such as CME, KOL activities, professional education, and speaker bureaus. And frankly, given Apple's resurgence, we're starting to see more Macs in the enterprise today.

When we looked into it, we found ProtoSphere was architected in such a way that it was entirely possible to produce a Mac version. This is not unlike how Microsoft has a version of Office for Windows, but also has a version of Office for the Mac. If you build your apps right from the get-go, portability is possible.

We created a SWAT team of developers who have been hard at work over the past few months porting over our Windows-based ProtoSphere Standard Edition platform so that Mac users can take full advantage of what the environment has to offer.

Existing ProtoSphere users will notice little difference in functionality between the two flavors of the platform. In fact, the majority of the functionality, even the user interface, is identical.

The new version will be supported on OS X Leopard and OS X Snow Leopard. More details to come as we continue development.

ProtoSphere 1.5.2 Feature Peek: Drawing tools for annotating content on Presentation Boards

You might say we went back to the drawing board to create this new feature coming in ProtoSphere 1.5.2. We're adding a set of drawing tools so you can annotate content on Presentation Boards. And by adding a blank side to your Presentation Board surface, you can create a white board for drawing flow charts or anything else you need to demonstrate. See it in action in the video I created here.

ProtoSphere 1.5.2 Feature Peek: Laser pointer for directing attention to content and objects

Presentation junkies, this one's for you: Laser pointers in our upcoming ProtoSphere 1.5.2. Now all users will be able to point to anything in their meeting room using ProtoSphere's new laser pointer. Just watch the eyes!

See how it works in the feature peek video I recorded below.



More ProtoSphere 1.5.2 feature peeks are on the way. You'll be able to try them all in our soon-to-be released ProtoSphere 1.5.2 demo build on our website.

ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010 Feature Peek: 15 zones for virtual meetings and collaboration

Our standard environment in our next release of ProtoSphere includes 15 zones to support the range of activities and events that companies hold. Zones include:

• Courtyard
• Atrium
• War Room
• Breakout Room
• Two Classrooms
• Four Conference Rooms
• Poster Hall
• Three Theaters
• Large Presentation Auditorium

The basic ProtoSphere implementation can support up to 500 simultaneous users, and up to 100 users per room/zone. This can be scaled by adding virtual or physical servers.

More details on each zone can be found in the presentation below. It includes screen shots of each zone, along with a description of their functions and features.

ProtoSphere Standard Environment

Our team is continuing to put the finishing touches on these spaces, so what you see here will have some more functionality in our upcoming release. But this provides a good sense of the new look and feel of the environment.

UPDATE 11/17/10: We've renamed ProtoSphere 1.6 as ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010.

ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010 Super Feature Peek: Microsoft Lync Sever 2010 integration

The biggest new feature we're introducing in ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010 will be Microsoft Lync Sever 2010 support. As soon as you step into ProtoSphere, the first thing you'll probably notice is the clarity and richness of the VoIP, thanks to the Lync system.

However, that's not all Lync has enabled us to add. I told you about our new Phone Dialer earlier today. And in addition, we've made three other major updates to ProtoSphere's voice communications functionality, all of which are supported through Lync. They include:

Always-on VoIP for hands-free talking. You'll be able to speak and hear other users the moment you enter a zone.

Echo cancellation, which eliminates possible echo when speaking without a headset. You'll no longer need to wear one to ensure an echo-free experience.

Communication Panel, which lets you adjust and mute/unmute your microphone; adjust and mute/unmute your speaker; and select your audio device, whether it be headset or built-in microphone/speakers.

That makes five Lync-supported features you can't find in any other virtual environment. Watch all of them in action in our video below. I recorded the audio for this video through Lync's technology, so you'll also hear just how crisp ProtoSphere VoIP will be.



UPDATE 11/17/10: We've renamed ProtoSphere 1.6 as ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010.

ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010 Feature Peek: Phone Dialer for outbound calling

Another new feature we're adding to ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010 is the Phone Dialer. It's provided through our Microsoft Lync integration. The Phone Dialer lets you make outbound calls from ProtoSphere to any number, allowing you to bring people who aren't in ProtoSphere into your virtual conference.

Calls can be placed to any number, including landlines, mobile numbers, and conference bridges. Our Phone Dialer is useful if a team member is running late, stuck in traffic, or away from their computer.
 
Our video below shows you how our ProtoSphere Phone Dialer works. Watch me make an outbound call, and demonstrate all of the options we've included with this feature.



Riiiing, riiiing. Hey, ProtoSphere's on the line!

UPDATE 11/17/10: We've renamed ProtoSphere 1.6 as ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010. 

Just how good is Microsoft Lync's VoIP audio quality? Hear the difference.

Back in September we told you that we've been developing support for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 in ProtoSphere. Here's our first sneak peek into what we've been working on.

Our upcoming ProtoSphere release will have brand new VoIP communications functionality using Microsoft Lync technology. To illustrate the difference, here's how the VoIP audio currently sounds in ProtoSphere 1.5:



And here's how the VoIP audio will sound in ProtoSphere with Microsoft Lync technology:



What do you think? Dare I say, music to your ears?

UPDATE 11/17/10: We've renamed ProtoSphere 1.6 as ProtoSphere Lync Edition 2010.

ProtoSphere 1.5 Feature Peek: Free camera control for faster 360-degree room views

With our ProtoSphere 1.5 public beta period coming to a close this week, I wanted to give you a preview of another feature we're including in our upcoming GA release.

We've added a "free camera control," which gives you a quicker way to look around the room. In previous versions, you could just use your left and right arrow keys to look around the room. Now you can also right-click anywhere in the room and drag your mouse to look left, right, up, and down. It's a fast way to see what and who is around you in a full 360 degrees.

To exit this mode, just walk, run, move left or right, engage one of the other view modes (first person, third person, or mirror), or hit the ESC key on your keyboard.

Along these same lines, we've also updated the control you have with the V keyboard shortcut. Previously, you could hit your V key to toggle between first- and third-person views, and the M key to flip to mirror view. Now you can toggle between all three views with your V key, which simplifies the user experience. The M keyboard shortcut has been removed.

ProtoSphere 1.5 Feature Peek: Portable app and proxy support let you work in ProtoSphere anywhere

Our customers have been asking us for a way to run ProtoSphere without having to download and install it, and without having to deal with any firewall configuration.

With ProtoSphere 1.5, we've added two new features that make it a plug 'n play app. First, we added proxy support for single-port firewall traversal. This keeps the effort of configuring your firewall rules to a minimum and entirely removes the need to configure an existing proxy server.

Secondly, we also developed a portable app version of ProtoSphere. You can now put ProtoSphere on any USB flash drive; plug the flash drive into any desktop PC, laptop, netbook, or tablet; and ProtoSphere runs, just like it would if you downloaded and installed it to your local machine. All of ProtoSphere's functionality and content is available to you in seconds.

These features let you begin working in ProtoSphere anytime, anywhere. For instance, they're especially useful if you're at a client site or trade show using a shared PC.

I put together a video to show you how the portable app works. After you watch the video, let us know what you think in the comments.

ProtoSphere Feature Peek: Poll users in the polling theater

We recently updated our public demo build of ProtoSphere with a new feature, the polling theater. It's a zone within the environment where you can take a poll of users, and then see the results displayed by headcount and user. Watch our video to see how it works, and then give it a whirl by logging into ProtoSphere.

As with all of our feature peeks, we welcome any feedback you have to help us improve the functionality to suit your needs better. You could say we're "polling" our readers on the polling theater. Depending on the feedback we get, we might include it, or a modified version of what you see here, in our upcoming 1.5 release. So cast your vote and let us know what you think in the comments!

ProtoSphere 1.5 Feature Peek: Add Web links to Presentation Boards

Our developers have been busy working on new functionality for ProtoSphere 1.5. One feature that's just about ready is the new Web link function. Users will now have the ability to hyperlink content on Presentation Boards.

Up until now, this has been something our developers had to handle for our customers. For more on how the new Web link function works, watch the video I created below.

ProtoSphere 1.5 Feature Peek: Zoom function on Presentation Boards

We've been getting a lot of great feedback from those of you who've downloaded our ProtoSphere 1.4 demo build. One of the most commonly requested features we're hearing is to add a zoom function to the Presentation Boards capability. Here's some evidence we're listening your requests.

Our engineers are taking your suggestions and running with them. They're already working on developing a zoom functionality, and I put together a feature peek video to show you how they're coming along. Remember, this is just a feature peek, so what it ends up as could be much different from what you see here. If we update it, we'll let you know!

ProtoSphere 1.4 Feature Peek: Media Carousels for collaborating on SharePoint documents

I created a new feature peek video describing how to configure the SharePoint Media Carousel within ProtoSphere. The Media Carousel lets you bring documents from SharePoint into ProtoSphere, where teams can edit and collaborate on them. Give the video a view to see it in action.



By the way, this might look familiar to you if you happened to be at the Defense GameTech Users' Conference last week. ThinkBalm's Sam and Erica Driver talked about ProtoSphere's Media Carousels in their presentation on immersive environments.

ProtoSphere 1.4 Feature Peek: Here's what's included with your baseline ProtoSphere license

When you license ProtoSphere 1.4, just what do you get in the box?

We call ProtoSphere's standard, or basic, platform the "Standard Environment Package." From day one, you get 15 virtual zones, including:

ATTENTION CLASS: A large ProtoSphere classroom

• One Welcome Center
• One Collaboration Center
• Six collaboration rooms
• Two meeting rooms
• Two classrooms
• One trade show hall
• One small auditorium, for small conferences
• One large auditorium, for large events of up to 250 people

Those are the default names, but you can easily rename each zone. For instance, you might want to call a meeting room your "Sales Meeting Center" for your sales team. And for those of you interested in having a fully customized 3-D environment, don't worry ... we can still accommodate your needs.

Every space also supports Presentation Boards and Media Carousels. And every installation includes the Environment Admin Tool which gives you account, zone, capacity, and permissions administration capabilities.

There you have it. Any questions, feel free to write to me or comment here.

ProtoSphere 1.4 Feature Peek: Compatibility with Windows 7 and the latest browsers

Rounding out our new features in ProtoSphere 1.4 is support for Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8, and Firefox 3. Here you can see what ProtoSphere looks like on the desktop in Windows 7:

UP TO SPEED: ProtoSphere 1.4 in Windows 7

Other compatibility improvements include a new 1024 x 590 display mode for netbook and small laptop displays; support for the standard Microsoft Installer (MSI) for mass, in the background, client installation; and Microsoft Code Signing Certificates for security of ProtoSphere executable code.

ProtoSphere 1.4 Feature Peek: Present to large audiences in the Presentation Auditorium

One of the most-requested new features we've baked into ProtoSphere 1.4 is the Presentation Auditorium. It's a massive virtual meeting place where up to 250 users can participate in a live presentation.

You can watch how it works in this video I created. It shows how presenters (moderators) control the presentation of content and can freely move about the stage. Meanwhile, all attendees have a front-row view of the stage, projection screen, and presenters, so they can see and hear the presentation with perfect clarity.



There's one thing about a virtual conference that's always better than life in the real world: No matter where you sit, you're guaranteed the best seat in the house! :-)