Videoconferencing for world peace

Videoconferencing may have a role in world peace, especially if professor Shaul Gabbay has his way.

Gabbay, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East (ISIME) at the University of Denver in Colorado, used an innovative high-definition videoconferencing service last week to start a conversation between a group of high-school students in Israel and students from Iraq who were visiting the United States.

The 17 Iraqi students met with about 20 Israeli students using videoconferencing technology from LifeSize Communications, which allows users to engage in high-definition videoconferences over faster broadband connections. The LifeSize Team and Room products allow high-definition videoconferencing — an important element of the conversation — at resolutions of 1,280 by 720 when connected to broadband service with speeds exceeding 1Mbps. With slower connections, the LifeSize products allow DVD-quality video at 512Kbps or cable TV quality at 384Kbps.

Gabbay was worried when the videoconference started. The Iraqi students knew little about Israel — under former Iraqi President Saddam Hussien, Israel wasn’t allowed to be shown on maps. “The Iraqi students didn’t know anything about Israel except that it was the enemy,” said Gabbay, whose organization focuses on ways to bring peace to the Middle East.

Once the students saw each other and started talking, his concerns melted away. “I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “From the first moment … they were very engaged in the conversation. They saw [the other students] were just regular people like them.”

A high-quality video link was important to the conversation between the Israeli and Iraqi students, Gabbay said. “If you saw both [groups], it was very difficult to know who was who,” he said. “They were dressed more or less the same, jeans and sneakers. The first second the camera went on, they realized they look very much alike.”

Participants felt like they were in the same room with each other, he said.

After the 90-minute videoconference, the Iraqi students asked for e-mail addresses of the Israeli students and wanted to organize a trip to Israel. “They wanted more,” Gabbay said. “This definitely has broken down a big barrier, thanks to the technology, really.”

The goal of LifeSize, based in Austin, Texas, is to deliver high-quality video at a price “any knowledge worker can afford,” said Craig Malloy, the company’s CEO.

The entry-level high-definition conferencing product from LifeSize costs $7,999, and comes with a camera, an audio device, and a laptop-sized encoder that includes LifeSize’s software. “You can use it over the open Internet, no problem,” he said. “Plug it into an HD monitor, one on both ends, and you can talk to anyone in the world on high definition. The people on the other end are life-sized.”

The company’s main customers right now are large businesses and educational institutions, Malloy said. LifeSize has about 1,000 customers and has shipped more than 5,000 products to 30 countries, he said.

LifeSize was happy to play a part in the University of Denver event, he said. “Being able to communicate at a moment’s notice virtually face to face around the world is not just for remote management of your Bangalore development facility,” he said.

Gabbay sees great potential in high-definition videoconferencing, he said. “To people who are trying to create bridges in the Middle East, the cleavages are so large,” he said. “To be able to connect societies that were formerly at war … for me, personally, it was like touching history by doing this project.”

He already is thinking about ways to set up conversations between Israeli students and those from more Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan. His organization works with young people because they often have fewer preconceptions, and they seem more receptive to these types of conversations, he said.

“In the end, it’s not just the governments who are going to make peace, it’s going to be dependent on people,” he added. “When people see the other [side] as just people like us, I think that can really make a difference.”