Oblong Takes Cisco Hollywood

It's not often that Cisco can claim Hollywood credit, but we can claim something better - we are bringing Hollywood to life.

Oblong Industries, a Cisco solution partner, was founded by the man that Hollywood turns to for envisioning the future of human computer interface as seen in blockbuster movies - like Minority Report, The Hulk, and Iron Man - John Underkoffler. At some point, he decided to make the futuristic concepts a reality. The best part? That reality works seamlessly with Cisco technology.

So what does Oblong do?

Oblong puts a multi-stream content layer on top of Cisco Webex.  Do you want to share content in a more flexible way? Do you want to make your content more interactive with multiple people sharing at once?  Do your collaborators want to see content from different sources side-by-side? Do you want your system, room, and environment to be so immersive that people can't help but be captivated?

A really cool aspect of using Oblong is the experience in a meeting room.  When you walk into a room with Oblong's Mezzanine product, you'll often see a number of large screens arrayed to form the shared, pixel-rich workspace. (You might even see screens on multiple wall surfaces.) There is a remote control called a wand that provides for gesture control of the information - while another group at some other location are also doing the same. You're all working together, seeing and controlling the same content at the same time.

For an example of the utility Mezzanine brings to projects, check out this short video illustrating how a workflow in Cisco Webex can jump from desktop to multi-stream Mezzanine meeting space for collaborators in multiple locations.

Or take a deeper dive, and go behind the scenes at Oblong with Spencer Kelly of BBC Click

Behavior is driven by the tools and environment that people are in.  If you have a traditional meeting, right after lunch when people's blood sugar is dropping, and someone is droning on, presenting from a slide deck, people just aren't fully engaged.

Put those same people in a room with an immersive Oblong <> Cisco Webex experience - huge screens, all sharing content at the same time, engaged in discussions - it's exciting!

It's like you're actually in the movie instead of watching one.  If you're interested in how Oblong can do this for your customers or at your company let us know.  Then, at your next meeting, your team might confuse you for Tony Stark.

And, if you're interested in hearing from the man himself, check out John Underkoffler's TED Talk on the future of Human Machine Interfaces.