Documents are on the ''table'', or visible in the collaborative structured video world, for all to collaboratively view and gesture at for emphasis and clarification. ConferenceSpace uses the computer to reconstruct the view of the users seen by the cameras into one more suited to low resolution and narrow visual angle subtended by the CRT and LCD output devices currently used. Instead of displaying the document as smaller than the user, the participants are generally superimposed over a larger document. A user manipulates documents using hand motions as if the document were located on a horizontal surface in front of them. The video output showing their hands, other users, and the documents, is displayed on a vertical display in front of them.
Structured video allows different objects in the video display to have independent update rates.
The collaborative nature of the targeted task requires effective communication between the different ''conference'' participants. This human to human communication can be very complex, making it difficult to abstract. This project was not conceived without immediate precedent. It has been developed by Stefan Agamanolis and others at the Media Lab as a demo of the power of the Isis media scripting language. In this demo, users are represented by their full head and shoulders, and all participants are shown in a single display, located exactly where they are in their camera video.