One thing that can really improve hangouts is eye contact.This is probably the main difference between video conferecing and the more expensive telepresence , w

One thing that can really improve hangouts is eye contact.This is probably the main difference between video conferecing and the more expensive telepresence , which is replacing flights for business meetings. While the eye-contact effect is harder to achieve on a pc[2], you can easily achieve similar effect by using a TV , putting the camera on top of the TV, and sitting in the right distance: from "More than face-to-face: empathy effects of video framing"[1]": """ TV Set-top design Viewing distances for large screen TVs make it easier to design effective interactions. At an 8’-12’ viewing distance, the recommended eye-camera distance is 8”-12”. An off-the-shelf camera placed flush on top of the TV will still leave several inches of screen space to accommodate the eye-head distance. A full screen upper-body image should give close to the recommended eye-camera distance for 5◦ error, and certainly within the 90% allowable angle error of 8◦. The camera lens can easily be chosen to frame the correspondent’s upper body (or the whole body which may be more appropriate) at 8’-12’ viewing distance. """ [1]http://gsct3237.kaist.ac.kr/e-lib/Conferences/CHI/2009/docs/p423.pdf http://gsct3237.kaist.ac.kr/e-lib/Conferences/CHI/2009/docs/... [2]https://plus.google.com/+GuyKawasaki/posts/KYADNHRgazS https://plus.google.com/+GuyKawasaki/posts/KYADNHRgazS