Category: Computing

Challenges and Solutions in AV Network Management

April 28th, 2023

Creating a well-designed, resilient, and secure AV over IP network that is integrated into the overall technology infrastructure of a university campus requires funding for equipment, training for staff and faculty, and the creation of a diverse and dedicated AV support teams to ensure proper maintenance and operation of the AV systems. All this adds up to a seemingly unsurmountable series of tasks.

In a session of the DDMC, Dr. Joe Way, the Director of Learning Environments at the University of Southern California, along with his senior team of Raj Singh and Chi Lo, discussed the challenges they faced and their approach to resolving them in their own AV network.

Raj Singh kicked off our session with pointing out initial challenges of managing multicast traffic and traversing between different switches and VLANs for the AV system in USC. They performed a stress test with about 40 rooms to create a playbook for replication and put network and security team guardrails to contain the multicast traffic. Challenges also include securing IP traffic, issues with bandwidth, multicast routing, and multi-MAC exemptions. USC’s approach to network AV is a top-down approach, designing rules and systems first and then propagating down to individual rooms. Data hygiene is important in network-based AV environments, unlike traditional AV where devices can be easily connected and swapped out.

Chi Lo further discussed stress testing a network to ensure it can handle high bandwidth traffic, such as 4K video. Recommend testing all scenarios and maximizing bandwidth to guarantee network readiness for future needs. The importance of direct connection of encoders and decoders to the distribution switcher is emphasized. Firmware updates that allow traversing across multiple fabrics and implementing software based VLAN separation.

The conversation continued with a question about USCs networking approach for distributing AV over IP system. Layer 2 or 3 and why? With a flat layer 2 network and the need for a layer 3 model with edge routing to avoid the whole system going down if a point in the network fails. Raj spoke to the use of router stacks on each floor of the building and keeping the AV system separate to that floor. The approach includes a mix of layer 2 and layer 3 with direct connections to network switches for multicast devices, and a registration and monitoring system for security.

The importance of security measures in the network and how USC went through an approval process with its own network security team to ensure the firewall rules and ports were secured was also discussed in detail. They partnered with the CEO’s office and IT infrastructure early on to get their approval and blessing, which slowed down the process initially but ultimately fast-tracked everything else. They were able to develop policies and tools to monitor the system and detect anomalies. They also used software-based tools to see what type of process is causing issues in the network.

Tracking metrics becomes the priority once an AV over IP network is in place, one on the engineering side and the other on the IT side. They are looking at things like network bandwidth, CPU cycles, packet loss, latency, and connectivity. Exploration of self-healing solutions for issues like cameras going offline, which can be fixed by power cycling. The team is also focused on ensuring that all their devices are running the latest software to enable them to connect to different platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom,and Webex. Compliance and security risks are also taken seriously, and upgrades are made promptly when necessary.

In conclusion, the DDMC session featuring Dr. Joe Way, Raj Singh, and Chi Lo provided valuable insights into the challenges faced and solutions implemented in the AV network at the University of Southern California. From network security and software updates to equipment maintenance and user support, the USC team demonstrated a comprehensive approach to managing a complex AV infrastructure.

While we have summarized some key points from the session, there are many more details to be learned from watching the recorded video. Overall, this session serves as a valuable resource for anyone involved in AV network management, particularly in an educational or large organizational setting.

Wolfvision CYNAP Pro

November 8th, 2022

App-free dongle-free screen sharing!

Connect and share your screen using the wireless technology that’s built into your own mobile device. Our wireless BYOD solutions suit all iOS, iPadOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows and Mac devices – with full support for AirPlay, Chromecast, and Miracast screen mirroring.

Record your content

Cynap Pro lets you record all your multi-window, multimedia content. Everything is captured in high definition and saved internally – perfect for use as part of your online educational program. The included Capture feature pack enables operation as capture agent for Panopto, and other compatible video management platforms.

Multi-platform web conferencing

Cynap Pro‘s multi-platform web conferencing solution runs directly on the device itself, and is designed to solve many of the issues most commonly experienced with BYOM web conferencing systems.

Complex multi-step setup, and bandwidth issues are eliminated, and Zoom, MS Teams or WebRTC-based wireless conferencing sessions are easily started and controlled, using a simple workflow, from a touchscreen, or any laptop, smartphone, or tablet.

Stream & record to mobile

Our unique vSolution App for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Windows lets your audiences receive and record a live stream of presentation or lecture content from Cynap Pro onto their own smartphones and tablets.

Freedom to present

Cynap Pro plays, displays, records, and streams all commonly used media at the same time, giving you unlimited choice of materials during presentations, lectures, and active learning classes.

Access your data easily via cloud, network drive or from mobile devices – even your laptop is no longer essential – you can simply bring your content on a USB stick, or download it directly from the cloud!

Annotate over any open window

Add to your content material using our built-in annotation features – or note down your ideas using the digital whiteboard, and save the output of both for future use.

If you are looking for an all-in-one with only needing to add audio processing? The CYNAP line of products is a good way to go.

2022 Northwest Managers of Educational Technology Conference Summary

April 12th, 2022

This April I attended the Northwest Managers of Educational Technology conference held this year in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Since there’s nothing quite like this group in the Southeast, it felt well worth it to me to fly across the country to enjoy a little normalcy and connect in person again with fellow A/V professionals focused on education. Of course, I can’t deny that the location for this year’s event on the shores of beautiful Lake Coeur d’Alene was an added draw. The conference was well attended (I’m guessing ~100 attendees), and exceptionally well run. NMET is a close organization with a history that spans several decades going all the way back to the beginning of the AV industry as we know it in the era of analog media.

TOPICS

Responses to the pandemic and various school’s efforts to work toward a “new normal”
The CARES Act as a catalyst for A/V classroom upgrades: UNLV launched a huge new program during COVID called RebelFlex using CARES funds that is seen as largely successful that would likely not have been possible otherwise. (Duke, along with several other top private universities such as Harvard and Princeton chose not accept CARES act funding.)
COVID as a driver for A/V initiatives and standardization: Many schools saw decision-making for A/V and IT-related projects shift to the provost level and higher as schools developed alternative teaching strategies such “emergency”, “HyFlex,” “hybrid,” “co-mingled,” and remote teaching as pandemic responses. In most cases timelines for implementing major A/V projects sped up significantly as well.
COVID as a driver for A/V standardization: Oregon State University described how COVID helped their campus standardize on an enterprise A/V strategy that centered on Kaltura, Canvas, and Zoom, and quieted demand for competing tools. Interestingly, OSU does not use a dedicated recording tool such as Panopto but instead utilizes Zoom for all recording and pushes this content to Kaltura within Canvas course sites.
Faculty support models for hybrid teaching: UNLV’s RebelFlex program experimented with hiring students who were assigned to in-person classes as tech support. While overall this seemed successful, there were challenges, such as the diminishment of the need for tech support as the semester went on and faculty became familiar with the new technologies involved. Additionally it was observed that faculty members tended to morph the roles of their student help into roles resembling TAs and research assistants over time, including using these helpers as moderators for their Zoom chats.
Building a Networking Group like NMET: Some of the conference attendees were surprised I came all the way from North Carolina to attend the conference. “You mean the Duke?” several asked. I explained there’s nothing in the southeast comparable to NMET, an education-driven organization focused on the intersection of A/V and IT. That’s sad, but not surprising in a way, since a successful organization like NMET isn’t built overnight. NMET began holding conferences in 1979 and is the result of the hard work and passion of several generations of A/V professionals who have comprised NMET.
The A/V Superfriends Podcast (https://www.avsuperfriends.com/): Some of the members of NMET together with other A/V professionals extending beyond that group maintain a very cool podcast for A/V professionals focused on the intersection of A/V and pedagogy in higher ed. They were actually recording new episodes of the podcast live in the exhibit area. Members of this group led several interesting conference sessions focused primarily on the impact of COVID for classroom technology. Recent topics of their podcast include:
- Managing PO’s and supply chain issues
- Campus support structures
- Auto-framing and auto-tracking cameras
- Cabling infrastructure and TIA standards
- The intersection of A/V and IT in hiring new staff
- AV replacement cycles–do we set arbitrary schedules of 5, 7, 10 years or tie AV refresh projects to capital projects?
- Bootstrapping light video production switchers into classroom systems
AV over IP: It was argued by some that the NDI (Network Device Interface) protocol represents the wave of the future, and that we should future-proof our classrooms by purchasing NDI-capable cameras
Benefits and drawbacks of Zoom certification: It was discussed this may be OK as long as not mandated or exploited for commercial benefit (cross reference Tandberg)

“Hybrid” (instructor-driven) vs. “HyFlex” (student-centered) classrooms

USB as the “common language of hybrid learning spaces”

Elevating sound quality in the rush to add A/V infrastructure to classrooms
Keeping classroom AV UI’s simple and standard even in classrooms where there is great complexity under the hood
ePTZ (auto-tracking) cameras: Importance of good lighting, fixed positions are better than continuous tracking
Making a virtual lightboard: One presenter showed how he used Procreate and a green screen in front of presenter to make a virtual lightboard

VENDORS

Kaltura: Kaltura was one of three main sponsors of the conference. As mentioned above, Oregon State University, which was the main organizer of the conference, is a Kaltura customer. It was noted that Kaltura, unlike most other vendors, still offers an unlimited storage and bandwidth licensing tier, although it was mentioned it is “expensive.”
Panasonic: Panasonic was another major sponsor of the conference. Their projectors and displays were used in conference venues.
Elmo was showcasing its wide array of document cameras from a $200.00 USB to similarly portable wireless options starting at ~$800.00 to its flagship 4K, 12x optical zoom version designed for fixed classroom installations, the PX-30E (MSRP $3700.00). Interestingly, while WolfVision is the 500lb gorilla in the doc cam space, Elmo actually invented the document camera, and is the older company.
Epiphan was showcasing its well-known Pearl live encoder lineup along with its cool new device, the LiveScrypt. The LiveScrypt connects to Epiphan Cloud to add live ASR-based captions to your live production. These captions can be embedded with your live streams or sent out to monitors in the room for display for in person or hybrid events. There is a charge of $10.00/ hr to use the cloud-based ASR service in addition to the $1,500.00 cost of the device itself.
Alfatron had its wide range of PTZ cameras on display, ranging from a MSRP of $700.00 to $2150.00.
Shure had a booth showcasing equipment by Stem, a company they recently acquired. Stem offers complete solutions for outfitting conference and meeting rooms with a range of mics, including tabletop, wall, and ceiling mounted ones, together with a hub and an integrated control system for managing the individual elements.
Smart was demoing its latest lineup of interactive displays
Legrand AV showcased a wide range of products focused on physical classroom infrastructure, including displays, display mounts, projectors, PTZ cameras, speakers, device controllers, and network switches. Legrand is a large company that owns Vaddio, Chief, Da-Lite, and Middle Atlantic Products.
Cleardigital featured its modular display wall called Vue featuring very smooth touch surfaces and replaceable panels as well as other products such as a PTZ cam, the RL400, a portable doc cam and an all-in-one conference camera.
Newline Interactive was featuring its newest interactive and non-interactive displays ranging from 27” to 98”
AVer gave a conference session demo-ing its new autotracking PTZ camera, the TR333V2. The TR333V2 offers:
- 30x optical zoom
- Sophisticated pre-set configuration, including the ability to move in and out of continuous tracking and fixed position mode based on how an instructor moves in the classroom
- 4k
- 3G-SDI, HDMI, IP, and USB output
- Full or half body tracking

Benchmarking the Dell XPS Tower vs the Apple iMac (2019)

July 22nd, 2019

Overview

In July of 2019, the Duke Media Productions team was due for an upgrade on our computers. Through a mix of research, budgeting, and consultation (the fine folks at Adobe were incredibly helpful) , we arrived at two candidates with nearly equivalent specifications: the Dell XPS Tower Special Edition and the 27″ Apple iMac (2019). Both machines are summarized below:

	Premiere Pro Recommended Specs	Dell XPS Tower Special Edition	Apple iMac (2019)
Processor	Intel 7th Gen or newer	Intel Core i9-9900K (8 Core)	Intel Core i9-9900K (8 Core)
RAM	32GB for 4K media or higher	64GB	64GB
GPU	4GB of GPU VRAM	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB VRAM	Radeon Pro 580X 8GB VRAM
Storage	Fast SSD	1TB SSD	1TB SSD
Price		$3,564.72*	$4,480.60**

(More…)

Benchmarking Tools for Testing Your Computer’s Performance

July 1st, 2019

Our team is due to get some new computers this month and we have narrowed our choices into an equivalently specced PC and iMac. To best decide between these options, I’ve found a few free-to-use tools that have helped me gather some data on which computer would best fit our needs. Though benchmarking was a new experience for me, I found these tools to be intuitive and straightforward.

AJA Systems Test – This tool, which works on both Mac and PC, allows the user to test the read/write speed of the hard drive or any connected drives. Most of our video projects are edited directly off of network attached storage so ensuring that our R/W speed off network is correct was the first step in accurately evaluating the computers’ performance. The Blackmagic Disk Speed Test also works for the purpose, but is only available on Mac.

GeekBench – For our work, single-core processing performance was the most important comparison. This cross-platform tool was perfect for testing the performance of the CPU, generating separate scores for performance on single-core and multi-core. There’s also more granular data for specific scenarios such as adding a Gaussian Blur, Speech Recognition, PDF rendering, etc. The scores may vary slightly if you run the test multiple times but they’re helpful for determining relative differences between machines. The GeekBench website also provides comparative data from tests that other users have run.

NovaBench – This tool provides a more well-rounded assessment, providing scores for RAM, GPU, Disk as well as CPU. It was good to get a second opinion of sorts on the CPU, but the scores between this and GeekBench aren’t directly comparable. And though editing in Premiere Pro is mostly reliant on processor speed, it can also use GPU acceleration for certain tasks, so it was helpful to have a point of comparison on that level as well.

FurMark – Speaking of the GPU, this GPU stress test was helpful though it’s only available for the PC. Additionally, it includes a CPU burner tool that essentially runs the CPU up to 100% of it’s capacity. In both cases, FurMark pushes your system to it’s limits – if the screen starts blinking or your machine shuts down, you’ll know there’s a problem. Better to find out now than in the middle of an intensive project.

Performance Monitor and Activity Monitor – On Windows 10, the Performance Monitor, amongst other things, generates a real-time graph of the percentage of processor time. When exporting a video from Premiere, or playing that video back in a video player, it was helpful to see how intensive these tasks were on the system. The built-in Activity Monitor application on Mac provides a similar overview.

New Machine Caption Options Look Interesting

February 28th, 2019

We wrote in April of last year about the impact of new AI and machine learning advances in the video world, and specifically around captioning. A little less than a year later, we’re starting to see the first packaged services being offered that leverage these technologies and make them available to end users. We’ve recently evaluated a couple options that merit a look:

Syncwords

Syncwords offers machine transcriptions/ captions for $0.60/per minute, and $1.35/ minute for human corrected transcriptions. We tested this service recently and the quality was impressive. Only a handful of words needed adjustment on the 5 minute test file we used, and none of them seemed likely to significantly interfere with comprehension. The recording quality of our test file was fairly high (low noise, words clearly audible, enunciated clearly).

Turnaround time for machine transcriptions is about 1/3 of the media run time on average. For human corrected transcriptions, the advertised turnaround time is 3-4 business days, but the company says the average is less than 2 days. Rush human transcription option is $1.95 with a guaranteed turnaround of 2 business days and, according to the company, average delivery within a day.

Syncwords also notes edu and quantity discounts are available for all of these services, so please inquire with them if interested.

Sonix.ai

Sonix is a subscription-based service with three tiers: single-User ($11.25 per month and $6.00 per recorded hour/ $0.10/minute), Multi-User ($16.50 per user/month and $5.00 per recorded hour) , and Enterprise ($49.50 per user/month, pricing available upon request). You can find information about the differences among the tiers here: https://sonix.ai/pricing

The videos in the folder below show the results of our testing of these two services together with the built in speech-to-text engine currently utilized by Panopto. To be fair, the service currently integrated with Panopto is free with our Panopto license, and for Panopto to license the more current technology would likely increase their and our costs. We do wonder, however, whether it is simply a matter of time before the currently state-of-the art services such as featured here become more of a commodity:

https://oit.capture.duke.edu/Panopto/Pages/Sessions/List.aspx?folderID=4bd18f0c-e33a-4ab7-b2c9-100d4b33a254

Zoom Room TV Control – A CEC Story

January 17th, 2019

One energy-saving feature of Zoom Room is Zoom Rooms Operation Time. This feature allows the room administrator to schedule business hours for an organization, say 8am to 5pm. During regular hours, the Zoom Room display(s), control interface, and scheduling panel will operate as normal. But, when the business (or university in our case) is outside the operational hours, the control device (usually an iPad or Android device) and scheduling display will dim to conserve energy and expand device longevity. Also, the display(s) will turn off during this period. The one catch is that the computer and monitors must support CEC (Consumer Electronic Control), and not all do. In fact, Macs don’t support CEC control over HDMI.

So, what do you do when your computer connection doesn’t support CEC? Simple, you buy some dongles! Zoom details this process (with details regarding the hardware setup) on their website, but in essence, you’ll need to configure the display (or displays… as Zoom Room can accommodate up to 3 screens) as seen below using a USB – HDMI-CEC Adapter by Pulse-Eight and a Lindy HDMI CEC Less Adapter by Lindy.

While this does add to the overall cost of the hardware design, it will more than pay for itself over the life of the install.

Crestron NVX Training

October 26th, 2018

Duke is considering deploying Crestron’s NVX network-based AV solution in a unique active learning/gaming environment, so we sent a few members of Duke’s AV community to attend Crestron’s NVX Design and Application (DM-NVX) and DigitalMedia Networking Certification (DM-NVX-N) classes. This was a unique class as it was highly compressed to accommodate our group’s schedule and needs.

Why NVX?
Crestron’s NVX platform is an AV over IP solution that replaces the need for more traditional 8×8, 16×16, 32×32, 64×64 and 128×128 DM switchers. NVX is more flexible, scalable, and brings AV into parity with modern IT practices. In essence, it’s the future of hardware-based AV.

The class started as many Crestron classes do with general introductions, some background on the devices, where to start when researching help (psss, it’s Crestron’s website)… and from that point on, we were thrown head first into the deep end of networking. Yes, very little of the class had to do with traditional audio or video. We covered the OSI model, IP addressing, subnet masks, port numbers, IP transport protocols, hubs, switches, routers, and DNS. For those that have a networking background, this was a nice refresher course. But, for more traditional AV folks, networking can sound like a foreign language. I won’t bore you with the details, but the first slide deck was over 180 slides, and the information was dense. After being bombarded with all of the information for roughly six hours, we took our first test. Most everyone passed on the first try… even if it was by a single question.

After the test and a bit of time to recover, we started a hands-on exploration of the hardware. We started off by connecting one NVX directly to another NVX, setting one as a transmitter and the other as a receiver. After a few minutes, we had a very basic AV system! The next phase was to connect the two NVX units to a local switch. That took a bit of switch configuring/setup, but again, it was easy. As we started the second day, we connected our local switches to a core switch, so we could share any of our NVX transmitters to any of the receivers. While more complicated, it wasn’t that difficult to configure. During the final hours of the last day, we chatted about programming for the NVX and how and why you may want to consider a DigitalMedia XiO Director, a Virtual Switching Appliance Crestron offers to simplify programming for more complex NVX setups. We had another test, and the class was over.

A few takeaways:

NVX, or AV over IP, is here to stay and AV groups should get comfortable with the future
While AV folks don’t need to throw away their old skills, networking is a core part of the future of AV
Start befriending your networking folks… today
IP over AV has a range of network security concerns, so you should also befriend your networking security folks
The future is exciting and complicated. Lean into the new way of doing things (or at least understand them)

NewTek Connect Spark Review

March 7th, 2018

The good folks at NewTek were nice enough to send Duke’s Office of Information Technology a demo unit of their new Connect Spark. The Connect Spark is a difficult device to explain to someone that has never produced or recorded a multi-camera live event. In the past, you’d need to run at least one cable from each camera to feed video and audio to the switcher before capturing and streaming that content out. Those cables had length limitations (~15 meters for HDMI and ~100 meters for SDI), not to mention being rather inconvenient. With the Connect Spark, instead of running AV cables throughout the event space, this unit leverages the local wired or wireless network to stream content either directly to a computer or an NDI capable video switcher (more on that in a bit).

Out of the box, the device is rather simple to setup and configure from the perspective of an AV professional with reasonable networking chops. I downloaded the accompanying app and was communicating with the device within minutes, able to make adjustments and confirm settings as needed. I was then able to stream that content to a local computer for importing into Telestream Wirecast (and a number of other streaming applications). Beyond that, the device could also be streamed to a Network Device Interface (NDI) capable video switcher.

In academic environments, this device could easily be deployed in large event spaces to simplify the cabling necessary to support a large multi-camera event. Also, due to the flexible/modular nature of the hardware, this same equipment could quickly be redeployed in a different location with different cameras and minimal technician involvement. Beyond that, it frees up the production team to work anywhere with a connection to the network backbone. So, in theory, you could have videographers in one building filming an event, and the director and production team in another building working their magic.

Network Device Interface (NDI)
I mentioned NDI above. NDI is a royalty-free standard developed by NewTek to enable video-compatible products to communicate, deliver, and receive broadcast quality video in a high quality, low latency manner that is frame-accurate and suitable for switching in a live production environment, or so says Wikipedia. So, this device works wonderfully with NewTek’s very popular TriCaster… but it also works with other NDI switchers such as Panasonic’s new switchers or web based virtual switches.

The Gotchas:
It wouldn’t be a DDMC article if it was all positive. Most, if not all, of the “gotchas” with the NewTek are outside of NewTek’s control. First, if you have a complicated network topology, you may experience issues. For example, in some situations, I wasn’t able to communicate with the device as it was on a different subnet or vlan. Again, not a problem if you understand your network… but for a technician that has no idea what a subnet or vlan is… it could be a show stopper. I was quickly able to quickly work around this issue, but you may need to work with your networking folks to get this all to work seamlessly. Second, if you don’t have a robust network, you may experience dropout issues, specifically when using somewhat inexpensive switches. While the device worked perfectly on our enterprise network, I experienced minor issues with my (admittedly old) home network. Infrequently, I’d see a dropped frame or hesitation. Again, I don’t blame this on the Connect Spark, but be aware that you may want to upgrade to a more modern router/switch if you are on older equipment.

Overall, I really enjoyed the device, and it underlines the coming “AV on IP” reality for AV folks.

HP Sprout Pro G2

September 26th, 2017

HP visited Duke’s Technology Engagement Center (TEC) this morning to provide an overview of their Sprout Pro G2. Describing the Sprout is a tricky thing to do considering the unique capabilities of the device. As HP was quick to mention, there really isn’t anything else like Sprout on the market, and until seeing it function, I assumed they were exaggerating… I was wrong.

At the heart of the system is a robust all-in-one Windows 10 computer (i7 processor, advanced graphics, 16GB of RAM, wireless keyboard/mouse, etc.), all the things you’d expect in a higher-end computer. What makes the Sprout unique is that it has built-in dual screens, one consisting of a traditional monitor and the other being a downward facing projector. The projector projects on a touch sensitive pad (HP calls it the Touch Mat) that easily connects to the base of the unit. The device defaults to extended desktop (one on top of the other), which can take a moment for novice users to fully understand. Both screens are touch sensitive, but the Touch Mat can also be used in conjunction with a stylus, and is a joy to use with minimal lag and various levels of pressure sensitivity. It does feel like you are writing on paper. If HP had stopped here with the Sprout, I’d have been impressed. It would have been a nice classroom computer with touch surfaces, annotation, and a document camera built in.

But wait, there is more… in 3D! The Sprout Pro G2 also offers up 3D scanning in two flavors. The first is a “quick scan” mode where you take an object and hold it under the projector. As you run the software and slowly rotate the object, the computer begins to create a 3D model of the item. The scull that HP provided worked very well, but some other items at the TEC didn’t scan as well (perhaps because of their symmetric nature, reflective material, etc). These scans are ideal for simply creating 3D objects for viewing on a computer or virtual environment, and not really for 3D printing.

The second method of scanning is considerably more accurate, using the 14-megapixel camera, but can be a bit more time consuming. In software, you set the level of accuracy you are looking to achieve, and the device scans the item over multiple captures. The level of accuracy was impressive.

No digital media demo would be complete without a few minor hiccups that HP identified as either an issue with a piece of software, our demo unit, or was an update on the near horizon. For example, we weren’t able to share the content from the projector to the TEC monitor. But, HP assured us that this was an issue with our unit.

As with all well-supported technologies, the Sprout Pro G2 receives regular updates, so it will be interesting to see where this device is in 2-6 months. I’d also be interested to see how well this device would perform in a classroom environment. Overall, this is a very interesting piece of technology, especially considering the took place at Duke’s Technology Engagement Center, the de facto hub for all things 3D in the area.