Hey there guys I recently made an account on here to gather some input for a programming idea I have. Before I go any further I'll give you guys a little background. Previously about a year ago I was majoring in Computer Science and Programming until I realized that such a career wouldn't permit me to see the my family as much as I want once I decide to start one. About the same time I met my girlfriend on an online forum, and I was talking to her one night about needing a foreign language credit. I ace nearly every class I take, but I have failed Spanish every year I have taken it (never understood why an in-animate object is female or male.) So, her being an ASL interpreting student suggested I take it up as my language credit. I took 101 and simply loved it, and around this time I made the drive to Tucson to meet her for the first time. During the whole trip I practiced what little sign I had learned from 101 with her, and on the trip back I started to heavily consider Interpreting as a major. Fast forward a few months and here I am in ASL 201 working on the ITP program as my major at Pima Community College (Amazing teachers there.) Well, sometime during the semester my Professor Taralynn was discussing her online only 101 class (she offers fully in-class, hybrid online/in-class, and complete online(101 only)). In the former two versions of her class she requires 10 hours of time in the Sign Lab. I thought to myself well what about the online only version? How do they get their valuable lab time? I began thinking up a solution not only for that type of class, but something awesome for everyone.
Now that the history lesson is over I'll get on to the actual idea. I'm hoping some of you have heard of the programs Mumble, Ventrilo, or Teamspeak. These programs, mumble in particular are awesome for gaming and socializing with gamers or people online because it works similar to a voice only skype call, but with the functionality of a perpetual server that people can join or exit at their leisure. In this constant server channels can be set up (see picture for interface reference.)
Now, Mumble is completely open source so I have thought about adding a video functionality to it which would not only be awesome for a virtual lab, but for people who want to have a constant chat service that adds video into the already excellent chat and voice. The really cool part for gamers? Currently mumble already has an overlay to show who's talking in the channel when the window isn't focused (their name + the red lips in the picture that are transparent in the top right corner) and with some modding I could implement a feature that replaces that with video. That seems like it could become crowded in a full chat, but fear not the video overlays could minimize and enlarge dependent on the movement of the broadcaster's camera. This way even in a small frame faces and expressions can be seen, but as soon as the hands fly the program picks up on it and enlarges the video. Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope I got my point across clear enough. Long story short, this would promote a social environment where click, call, and hangup scenarios with skype are no longer necessary.
Before I go ahead I want to know if any of you think it worthwhile. If you want some more reference on the current voice only version of Mumble I invite you to view some videos on how it functions. Thanks.
Now that the history lesson is over I'll get on to the actual idea. I'm hoping some of you have heard of the programs Mumble, Ventrilo, or Teamspeak. These programs, mumble in particular are awesome for gaming and socializing with gamers or people online because it works similar to a voice only skype call, but with the functionality of a perpetual server that people can join or exit at their leisure. In this constant server channels can be set up (see picture for interface reference.)
Now, Mumble is completely open source so I have thought about adding a video functionality to it which would not only be awesome for a virtual lab, but for people who want to have a constant chat service that adds video into the already excellent chat and voice. The really cool part for gamers? Currently mumble already has an overlay to show who's talking in the channel when the window isn't focused (their name + the red lips in the picture that are transparent in the top right corner) and with some modding I could implement a feature that replaces that with video. That seems like it could become crowded in a full chat, but fear not the video overlays could minimize and enlarge dependent on the movement of the broadcaster's camera. This way even in a small frame faces and expressions can be seen, but as soon as the hands fly the program picks up on it and enlarges the video. Sorry for the wall of text, but I hope I got my point across clear enough. Long story short, this would promote a social environment where click, call, and hangup scenarios with skype are no longer necessary.
Before I go ahead I want to know if any of you think it worthwhile. If you want some more reference on the current voice only version of Mumble I invite you to view some videos on how it functions. Thanks.