Virtual Visit

University of Southern California, 2001 - $18,000

The Virtual Visit project started in the fall of 2000 at the University of Southern California Department of Biomedical Engineering with the support of the Alfred Mann Institute and the USC School of Gerontology. Its goal was to increase communication between the elderly and their families by providing a simple and robust videoconferencing system. The device uses typical consumer electronic items found in most homes to enable videoconferencing without requiring any computer literacy. It uses a high speed Internet and phone connection and a regular television display.

The core student E-Team reevaluated the design, conducted feasibility analyses, determined funding strategies, found strategic partners, evaluated intellectual property protection, conducted a market analysis, and constructed a functional prototype.