"Beam" Me Up | Hinesight....for Foresight

I was turned on to what looks a pretty cool advance in telepresence by Jason Hartgrave, who attended our week-long strategic foresight course in last week. We were talking about the growing influence of online learning, and I had mentioned how a few years back, the number of o beam nline/distance students in our hybrid classrooms had surpassed the physical and that trend continues to strengthen.

We joked a little about the bad old days of early distance learning when the technology was really crappy. Our Master’s Program uses AdobeConnect software with a room-based microphone to capture the live classroom. It’s pretty good, with the only issue being the quality of the room-based microphone is such that the sound is better if everyone is online at their individual pc/pad. We have searched for a really good room-based microphone, but nothing yet that solves the problem.

But I digress. The technical problems will eventually be resolved (but I’, open to suggestions in the meantime). The more interesting question is “what’s next” and Jason pointed me in the direction of “Beam,” which they call a smart presence system. The 1:40 second video is well worth it. Basically, if you are remote, your image on a screen is on a Segway-like device that enables you to “walk” around a room or the office, bringing a whole new dimension to the presence – you’re no longer static. Pretty cool stuff. Andy Hines

About Andy Hines

Dr. Andy Hines is Program Coordinator at the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Foresight, bringing together the experience he earned as an organizational, consulting, and academic futurist. He is also speaking, workshopping, and consulting through his firm Hinesight.

Before that, he was Managing Director of Social Technologies/Innovaro, and served as an Adjunct Professor with the university since 2004. Hines enjoyed earlier careers as a consulting and organizational futurist. He was a partner with Coates & Jarratt, Inc., a think tank and consulting firm that specialized in the study of the future. He was also Futurist & Senior Ideation Leader at Dow Chemical with a mission of using futures tools and knowledge to turn ideas into new business opportunities. Before that, Hines established and ran the Global Trends Program for the Kellogg Company.

Hines is motivated by a professional hunger to make foresight practical and useful, and he believes that foresight can help deliver the insight that is so needed in today’s organizations and the world. His goal, he says, is to infect as many change agents as possible with this message. Thus, he has honed a skill set designed to make foresight more actionable in organizations.

In this pursuit, he has authored five books: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); ConsumerShift: How Changing Values Are Reshaping the Consumer Landscape (No Limits Publishing, 2011); Thinking About the Future: Guidelines for Strategic Foresight (Social Technologies, 2007); 2025: Science and Technology Reshapes US and Global Society (Oak Hill, 1997); and Managing Your Future as an Association (ASAE, 1994) and has another in the hands of publishers: Teaching about the Future: The Basics of Foresight Education. He has also authored dozens of articles, speeches, and workshops, including the 2003 Emerald Literati Awards’ Outstanding Paper accolade for best article published in Foresight for “An Audit for Organizational Futurists” and the 2008 award for “Scenarios: The State of the Art.” He has appeared on several radio and television programs, PBS Houston, KRIV-26 News, and the CBS “Early Show.” He also co-founded and is former Chair of the Association of Professional Futurists.

About Andy Hines

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