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iChat AV has always had an interesting usability / interaction issue. Because the camera is located on the display bezel, and not in the middle of the screen w

iChat AV has always had an interesting usability / interaction issue. Because the camera is located on the display bezel, and not in the middle of the screen where the video window sits, you can't ever make full eye contact with the person you're talking to. It makes the entire conversation feel a little "off". I've always thought this was a subtle yet important reason computer-based video chat never took off, and was super excited by patents that hinted that Apple was going to put the camera behind the display. Hopefully the new iPhone 4 camera is close enough to the display to make eye contact possible.

nooneelse 16y ago
Interesting bit there at the end. Just by being human I can say we are quite capable of telling if someone is looking at a point a couple of inches from our eyes from across a table (can usually tell which eye they are dominant in and which of your eyes they are looking at). So if your face is in the middle of other screen and they look down at that image instead of at the camera, the question becomes will the resolution of your image of them be enough to tell? I bet it will be easier to tell if they look back and forth between the camera to the image. And better video quality and distances to the phones will, of course, make it easier to see the lack of true eye-contact. So, in addition to just holding your phone further away, maybe everyone can aim their own phone's camera so that the image of them on the other phone has their eyes as close to the camera as possible. One might just find that people start gravitating to that "off center" camera aiming without thinking about it (since it would minimize the other person's eye-jitter). Anybody reading this done much hand-held video calling? Where are the thresholds on these variables?
pronoiac 16y ago
The offset between the iPhone camera & screen is several times smaller than a laptop with a built-in camera, & if you have a separate webcam, it can be even worse. So I'd say the iPhone is an improvement, at least.
pxlpshr 16y ago
I agree with this. It wouldn't surprise me the least if existing associations to a "phone" will make video chatting a lot more comfortable for people; myself included. Anyhow, how long do you think it will take your average female to get ready for a FaceTime phone call? It's for this and other behavioral issues that video calling will always be nice but never necessary. At least that's my prediction for the next 10 years.

nooneelse 16y ago

Interesting bit there at the end. Just by being human I can say we are quite capable of telling if someone is looking at a point a couple of inches from our eyes from across a table (can usually tell which eye they are dominant in and which of your eyes they are looking at). So if your face is in the middle of other screen and they look down at that image instead of at the camera, the question becomes will the resolution of your image of them be enough to tell? I bet it will be easier to tell if they look back and forth between the camera to the image. And better video quality and distances to the phones will, of course, make it easier to see the lack of true eye-contact. So, in addition to just holding your phone further away, maybe everyone can aim their own phone's camera so that the image of them on the other phone has their eyes as close to the camera as possible. One might just find that people start gravitating to that "off center" camera aiming without thinking about it (since it would minimize the other person's eye-jitter). Anybody reading this done much hand-held video calling? Where are the thresholds on these variables?

pronoiac 16y ago

The offset between the iPhone camera & screen is several times smaller than a laptop with a built-in camera, & if you have a separate webcam, it can be even worse. So I'd say the iPhone is an improvement, at least.

pxlpshr 16y ago

I agree with this. It wouldn't surprise me the least if existing associations to a "phone" will make video chatting a lot more comfortable for people; myself included. Anyhow, how long do you think it will take your average female to get ready for a FaceTime phone call? It's for this and other behavioral issues that video calling will always be nice but never necessary. At least that's my prediction for the next 10 years.