Persistent Home Videoconferencing Solution? 253
An anonymous reader writes "I'm moving very soon for work, and will be several hundred miles away from my young family for six to nine months. Obviously I'll travel back as often as possible, and there's always Skype and XBLA video, but the whole 'now it's time to talk to dad' thing seems ... a little weak. I was wondering the Slashdot community could help me come up with a more persistent solution. Ideally what I want is an always-on connection between a pc/monitor/camera/speakers in my old kitchen and my new kitchen, so if we're in the kitchens, we can see each other and interact semi-normally. (We're a kitchen-focused family.) Most solutions I can find time out pretty quick, or require some knowledge on the part of the users, and the tech-savvy people are only going to be in one kitchen, to put it politely!" (Read on for a few more details.)
"I do have a reasonable number of Windows PCs and Macs (and game consoles), but no alt. OS machines, so something for retail OSes would be better — I haven't tested the PS3 camera for long durations, but I know the conferencing quality with a PS3 is pretty good, and that could be an option too. Any camera recommendations would be good. We have sweet access at our house, but it will need to be wireless to the kitchen from the router."
Camera surveillance? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Camera surveillance? Bandwidth bonus (Score:2, Interesting)
Nice idea. Such software may already support the feature that video is only sent when there is movement/change. So, you're not wasting bandwidth.
Perhaps this Mac software suits your needs http://www.bensoftware.com/ss/ [bensoftware.com]
Bert
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or make sure to stream some ads every 5 minutes.
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You're undressing in the kitchen?
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haha, ah I did say state of undress :-) Not everyone wears pj's and midnight snack attacks do happen to people. And even fully decent, you might not really want someone to see you in the morning before you do your makeup and deal with your hair.
And people on slashdot would not know, but sometimes there is a good reason to undress in the kitchen!
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you point to the flakiness of statistical analysis in relation to truth
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It's like Chatroulette!
Re:Camera surveillance? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Probably, so I'd start by recommending a wide-angle (maybe even fisheye) lens webcam...
Creepy (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Creepy (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll have to disagree about your creepy statement (but I do appreciate still offering your advice).
Dads being gone, especially with little ones can have pretty large effects. I think it'd be kind of cool to still be able to have that "hey dad guess what!?" pop out of the middle of no where. It's those unscheduled moments that are going to win with a good set up.
Re:Creepy (Score:4, Insightful)
He's not talking about following them around with the camera, or surveilling the whole house. He's talking about setting up a two-way link between two terminals in fixed, public (in the context of the home) locations. If someone doesn't want to be observed, simply don't stand in front of the terminal.
Re:Creepy (Score:5, Insightful)
It's only weird when it's one way. The key is to make sure that when you can see someone on the screen, they can also see you on their screen. If the screens are big enough, it's almost like a window.
Re:Creepy (Score:4, Funny)
"It's only weird when it's one way."
Well, what about half way?
Here's whatcha do.
You get a male, adult mannequin, dress it up like dad (get the facial hair just right!), and prop it up in the breakfast nook. Put the video camera that dad will be getting his feed from behind one of the eyes of the mannequin (I do NOT recommend the "Third Eye" effect. THAT shit is creepy) and put the speakers he will be heard over behind the mouth.
If anybody wants to chat with dad, they go sit with him in the breakfast nook. Rap about school over bagels and lox.
If you add accessories, your wife can haul it into the bedroom after the kids go to sleep. I suggest http://www.adulttoys.com/ [adulttoys.com] and http://www.apogeekits.com/pc_remote_controls.htm [apogeekits.com] combined for a full array of functions.
Dad can also be parked on the front porch while everyone is away, keeping a watchful eye on the home-front. Park a nice lemonade or beer next to him for the full effect.
"Get off of my lawn, you punk kids!" BBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!
Re:Creepy (Score:5, Insightful)
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I would imagine if the screen is big enough or obvious enough on both ends it would be something like walking into the kitchen and if Dad is in the kitchen on the other side you'll see him and say 'hi'. Presumably he may notice you walk in out of the corner of his eye as he's making a sandwich.
Now granted if your just paranoid about the idea of cameras in general then you wouldn't like it, of course pointing
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Well it's certainly good that you're only sharing how you think you would've felt in a hypothetical past situation upon the reflection at this later date, and not suggesting that you have more insight into the feelings and reactions of some children that you don't know than their own father does, cuz that would be somewhat arrogant. I do hope at least we can remember than different people are different, and that we shouldn't generalise from self, or judge based on self.
Panasonic IP camera (Score:3, Informative)
very IE dependent, but we had a setup with a microphone (internal to the device) and external speakers,
my wifes family from overseas could manage it without a problem
the remote viewer had 'click to talk' functionality- we'd be in the office and suddenly the speakers would crackle 'szia' and they could see the grandchildren and we could talk clearly...
setup was technical, using it was not...
video was one sided only..
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That's the one thing to be concerned about: audio looping back through the microphone from the speakers, around and around and around... it would take a good setup to prevent a horrible echo.
Re:Panasonic IP camera (Score:5, Interesting)
Axis IP cameras are cheaper than Panasonic, and aren't as reliant upon IE running on specific versions of Windows.
(Disclaimer: I sell both.)
But: The problem with IP cameras is that you still need a computer-ish device to view them with. There are apps for something like an iPod Touch which can do it, but I have my doubts about them having good audio support.
And there won't be any echo cancellation happening, which is really rather needed if headsets aren't used for audio. (Nothing quite like hearing "Hey Dad!" echo over and over again with a second or so of latency as bounces back and forth across the country...)
So, it's going to need teleconferencing-specific software. My suggestion, therefore, is a cheap, used laptop at each end, preferably with a built-in camera. Several-years-old laptops are plenty fast enough to do this sort of work.
For software? Who knows... Try some of the obvious choices [google.com], and see if any are dumb enough to get the job done persistently, while being smart enough to get the things right that need gotten right (echo cancellation, for instance).
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Or, you know, he could realize that it doesn't work that way. Bar musicians avoiding room-reinforced resonance have a very different problem to solve. And they don't often get to deal with this by modifying speaker placement (because it's a bar and there just aren't many options).
Skype + Auto Answer (Score:5, Informative)
Create a dedicated Skype account which is set to auto start video and accept calls from it's contact list, add your skype to that contact list and you're all set. All you have to do is click call whenever you're in your kitchen and there will be a video uplink. Runs on windows or mac with any old x86 box and webcam, pretty close to $0. Just make sure the PC doesn't go to sleep (more than $0).
Re:Skype + Auto Answer (Score:4, Interesting)
With Skype for...TVs [skype.com] it even begins to look like the old scifi dream...
Might be interesting if TVs/large displays on both sides are at the ends of tables.
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With Skype for...TVs [skype.com] it even begins to look like the old scifi dream...
Might be interesting if TVs/large displays on both sides are at the ends of tables.
Yes, I've used Skype and other video conferencing apps on a 56" HD TV. It really is cool to see larger-than-life representations of people on the other end. Kinda like being on the bridge of a typical Federation starship, where everyone you interact on-screen with is bigger than you are. Well, okay, like that minus all the nifty consoles, pointed ears, warp drives and hot Bantu women in miniskirts. But other than that.
Unless he's has a corporate-level Internet connection, he'll probably not want the thi
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Federation solutions aren't perfect [kyon.pl] (warning: NSFW, in a way, I think...well, mostly deeply disturbing)
All this makes me want to try videoconferencing using some decent projector - as long as it won't be in the field of view of the camera (fairly easy with many projectors & their mechanisms to correct image geometry when not projecting at a wall "head on"), the results should be really cool. Might even help with eye contact issue, if the camera will be somewhat "hidden" in the screen...
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Add a motion detector, use the skype api to link the motion detector to 'call [skype account]' at each end, and the thing will connect whenever anyone walks into the kitchen at either end..?
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This is chat I have right now. Works great. Even get skype on your mobile so you know if they "called." I agree with top poster. This is almost free and very effective. For me at least.
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The one reservation I'd have with that is that it's not just your own bandwidth you're wasting, but a company that provides a free service
Nope, you're not wasting Skype's bandwidth. Although you might be wasting the bandwidth of the suckers who allow Skype to proxy via them if you're not careful.
I'd be more inclined to use a SIP based system though, since it isn't proprietary and does the same job. One of the many SIP softphones that do video should do the job, such as Ekiga.
I hate to say it, but (Score:4, Insightful)
quit your job, or move your family with you.
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I'm pretty sure that was his first idea, but for whatever reason, was unfeasible.
Re:I hate to say it, but (Score:4, Insightful)
It can very easily be unfeasible, especially in todays market, and he already said he was young. Quitting a job for any reason at a young age without another job to move into is risky in the best of circumstances, and we aren't exactly living in the best of circumstances. Its risky for anyone, but particularly for someone that may not have the experience to be even looked at for a lot of other jobs.
In the choice between "Leaving my family for 6 months" or "Staying and forcing my family to live in poverty for the next 10+ years because I just didn't want to go" is there really a choice? If you actually do see a choice there I hope you never have dependents, and don't have them now.
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Well, if you believe the courts, you have to not leave, AND not lose your job, or go to jail (when you can't pay support anymore)... if you are divorced from your ex. Is it such a stretch that leaving to earn income to support a family won't be construed as spousal and child abuse (wahhh! daddy left) if you are married?
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I've seen the courts order the custodial party to not move when it would interfere with visitation rights, but I've never heard of the court ordering the non custodial party to not move. Also, support is based on income. If you have zero income, presuming they don't think you purposefully did it to avoid support and you aren't just beginnin
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No, what happens is if you move, you don't exercise visitation, and you can lose that right. In extreme situations you can be held in contempt for not exercising it.
You aren't assessed support on what you earn, you are assessed support on what you can earn, as far as the court deems. And if that means moving half-way around the world, that's what you have to do... and still exercise your visitation rights at your own expense.
Been there, done that: lost a job in WA (at-will employment) because I was divorced
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So your first statement was factually incorrect. And your perspective was from someone who felt wronged, didn't have the result you stated apply to you, and are bitching and moaning about it later.
I never can figure out if people like you really hate the courts, or whether it's an issue of displaced anger towards the spouse.
You aren't asse
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Yes, because in our dynamic and powerful economy there's no chance he might be doing it out of fear that he might otherwise be unable to support his family.
This would be why it's called wage slavery.
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He prefers leaving his family for 6 months than losing his job. That's not "unfeasible", that's just "what he chose".
Hmmm, yeah he had the choice of keeping the job and make sure he puts food and shit like that on the table for his family, or lose the job in this particular difficult time of the economy. Yeah some choice. Your teenagerish bravado logic is infallible.
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I agree. If you already have this much separation anxiety, you're asking for nothing but grief and stress in your life by being apart from your family for so long.
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"Lonely" is the absolute worst thing you can make your wife feel if you want to keep her, and is the reason most often given for infidelity.
I tried this a few times (Score:5, Informative)
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I agree with DNS-and-BIND. We (me and my girlfriend) used to play RPG with a group of friends and when we moved to another city we setup a skype call so we all could keep playing together. It was awkward, video quality was not as good as we were expecting. Sometimes there were frequent crashes, which was really annoying and took away most of the fun - it's just not nice to be interrupted when you are having a lot of fun... you can shrug it off at the start but in the long term it starts to hurt. Even with a
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Maybe if they fastened the laptop onto a Roomba or something that would have helped.
There are companies [headthere.com] that offer such [reghardware.com] things. [robotshop.com] Probably impractical for the OP though.
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I've never really understood this argument. Surely using technology to stay in contact with distant family members at least improves the situation?
And imagine that 500 years from now we have extremely sophisticated androids or 3-D holograms (to the point that they are nearly indistinguishable from humans) which can be controlled (perhaps via a direct brain link) by a remote person. Will you still just throw your arms up and claim that the "social problem" just can't be solved by technology?
I agree that th
Re:I tried this a few times (Score:4, Interesting)
This is a bit more expensive, but solves the problem.
http://www.amazon.com/D-Link-DCS-5300-Network-Internet-Camera/dp/B0001AU9B4 [amazon.com]
It's a standalone device, so no computer to run, and probably a minimal power draw.
You'd need to run ethernet or a wireless to ethernet adapter for each device.
You do, however, get remote pan and tilt functionality. That should be a boon if you're changing between talking to kids and adults.
Some criticism as to durability, but those folk were running them for a couple of years. Low light problems are always an issue for webcams, I'd highly recommend visiting Ikea or similar and adding several lights to the kitchen to make it really bright if it's not already.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Is your wife tech savvy? (Score:4, Funny)
he's hot gay
Well-placed typo!
Two Laptops? (Score:5, Interesting)
bogosort chatroulette (Score:3, Funny)
you have your kids turn on chatroulette, and you do the same. if you don't see each other, and you're kids are still not mentally scarred, you bogosort until you find each other
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... and you're kids are still not mentally scarred
I think you have a high opinion of chatroulette.
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you have your kids turn on chatroulette, and you do the same. if you don't see each other, and you're kids are still not mentally scarred, you bogosort until you find each other
These could be your kids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNSaurw6E_Q [youtube.com]
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Lol that was pretty good
But talk about guerrilla marketing: advertise to 2-3 people at a time
Just use Windows Live Messenger? (Score:2)
If all you need is a persistent video stream between two locations, isn't this just setting up a PC/laptop with a webcam in each kitchen, openening an IM video chat session, and leaving the session up and running?
Neil
Sounds pretty inconvenient. (Score:4, Funny)
What if you or your wife want to bang someone on the kitchen table?
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What if you or your wife want to bang someone on the kitchen table?
Two kitchens == two kitchen tables?
I mean, presumably, anyhow. Having just one table betwixt the two would be poor planning.
Or were you more concerned about the video equipment? I mean, I assumed it was a given that you'd mount the stuff on the wall to keep it away from food spills, hot pans, or whatever else goes down in your kitchen.
Telephone (Score:2)
Keep it simple, mate. Use a telephone. Or Skype. If you want to see pics of the family, have them email them to you. Gmail account is good for this. Having dad call around dinner time could become a very treasured memory for the family. Also remember, you're the one who's taken the remote job, you didn't have to do that.
Now, if you are thinking surveillance, that's a whole different ball of wax. Might want to have a chat with the fam about that.
Presence (Score:3, Interesting)
Since there have been useful direct suggestions already, some of which have pointed out the liability of not actually feeling "there" by virtue of separation by screen, I have an alternative that can actually help you feel together, as if you are both in the same place (although not useful for kids).
"Second Life"
Lots of people in long distance relationships use it to actually feel as if they are together sharing space. Businesses have found the same thing, instead of feeling the "distance" video conferencing confers, everyone feels as if they are in the same room.
You can present yourself how you desire and decorate how you all desire including have pics of kids on the nightstand. You can have shared experiences like going to live music events, dancing together, attending Burning Life (the virtual Burning Man alternative), participating in games or treasure hunts, watching videos, sailing, amusement parks, exploring different places, etc.
You can even explore intimacy, including in ways you might not feel comfortable in your own bedroom. (I know a couple who both logged on in their apartment together, one in one room, the other in the living room, who enjoyed certain adult activities that just made them giggle were they trying them in their own bedroom together.)
The only big catch is there is a significant learning curve, many people log on and try it, to never log on again--so you might not "get it" (it seems more women and stay at home moms do).
But I can tell you that it's amazing how good a virtual hug feels when someone gives you one and you virtually experience it happening, far more than a verbal "love you" or textual "*hugs".
I know there are many here who ridicule Second Life, but this is an area in which it excels, and I know of no other similar substitute--plus it's free!
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Faux Portal (Score:5, Insightful)
The goal is to have it close enough to something that people are comfortable with allowing for some suspension of disbelief. Working towards that end have the camera in each room in a similar position to make it as close as possible to acting like a window. Stick a pointless frame/trim on the wall to encourage the illusion. Continuous lines and such when standing and looking into the 'window' from the most common position are important. Similar rooms would help as well. Or common elements
It would not be the same thing as a window of course because of the lack of 3d. One thing you could do though to partially alleviate this would be to use head tracking to determine how close you are to the camera and as you move closer have it zoom to match the right field of view that you would expect. This would help add some realism. Another thing you could do would involve 3d sound recording + reproduction which is doable. It makes the connection feel more real if they can hear you move across the room.
More expensive the better pretty much. Costly internet connection helps a lot. Good camera and microphones would be good. Good projector would be very important. Fancy business telepresence stuff probably is good and expensive too.
I'm sure a good driven programmer/engineer could set this up and get it working smoothly with under 20k and a month or so
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I got rid of my TV and moved to a projector about two years ago (needed a new TV and discovered that a decent projector costs about 2/3rds what a decent TV with half the screen size would). And I absolutely love it, no regrets, but I watch very little TV, basically just one or two hours every other day or so, perhaps four hours on a rainy weekend
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I would use projectors not screens. Set up a whole wall of the room (or a large bordered portion) to act as a window.
That would require a high-res webcam to work well.
And you'd need to set it up to reproduce at 1:1 scale, no larger; this means that with a projector you're wasting a whole lot of real estate on irrelevant stuff (i.e. not the person but his kitchen). Having a nice large monitor is good; a projector is overkill, IMO.
http://www.ustream.tv/ (Score:2)
Keep it simple (Score:2)
Some years ago I saw a paper (maybe ACM Siggraph) on something related. A meeting room had a video camera every few feet and the stitched together signal was then projected from a few projectors onto a wall. I made it seem as though you were looking at another room, with a table and the people sitting behind it. Using multiple cameras / projectors (and maybe rotating their orientation) allowed a big portion of the room to be transmitted, while maintaining enough resolution to see their faces, it was all abo
Words of support (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll be honest; I don't know the solution to your problem. But I've been reading the replies, and between people giving you career advice (without any concept of what your job is, how much you love it, how hard it may be to change it, etc.), disregarding the flamingly, ass-poundingly obvious (normal IM won't work because you have to be close to the laptop, it times out on its own, etc.), or simply telling you that what you're asking about is creepy, I can see you have your work cut out for you.
Hang in there, man...and remember, this very thing that you are doing, this clear and persistent description and communication of a need, is what drives innovation in the IT and consumer electronics industries. Go for it, and keep it up until you get what you want!
WowWee Rovio (Score:2)
Not a complete solution, but possibly part of a solution. WowWee (The company that made the Robosapian) has a mobile webcam 'robot', the Rovio
http://www.wowwee.com/en/products/tech/telepresence/rovio [wowwee.com]
They sell it for pretty much your situation. So, whenever it's wondering around, the family can know "Dad is here !"
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That's really cool. Robot navigation is always a problem, so it's interesting how they've dealt with it.
If that thing had an LCD on it to make the link two-way, it'd be basically perfect. Well, that and if the camera and LCD were mounted at normal eye level.
The Future... (Score:2)
Seems to me that always on web-cam solutions have been around for a decade or more. Some number of young women paid for their college educations that way.
Be careful what you wish for (Score:2)
Google voice and video chat? (Score:2, Interesting)
Have you looked into Google video chat? I haven't used it as a regular consumer (I'm an employee) but it seems to work pretty well. It's probably at least worth checking out. http://www.google.com/talk/ [google.com]
Apple iChat (Score:2)
Apple's iChat works excellently for me for long-distance connectivity. We connect via Jabber rather than Apple's MobileMe ($$$$!) service. It works flawlessly, in my opinion.
You don't want a video conference solution (Score:3, Informative)
Video conferencing is for two parties to voice chat, video chat, and share data, etc for a set period of time. I think what you really should think about is a webcam streaming service. There are many sites out there that allow you to embed a live feed from a webcam in a webpage for a small fee. A lot of them will provide the page and give you direct URL and provide the local client software to stream the feed to the web page. You get one for your computer, your wife gets one for the home PC. You watch their page and they watch yours. All of this is designed to run full time as long as the PC is on, can be set to start at boot up, will save your settings and logon info etc. That way you have an always on solution. I don't remember the service I used to use. A quick look at google got me to ustream.com
Tandberg (Score:2)
At work we sometimes work on projects which span multiple offices. We have used a pair of Tandberg units, one sitting on our desk in California, the other sitting on a desk in New York. It is great to be able to say "hey Bob, can you explain this bit of code?" when you see that Bob is sitting at his desk and not deep in conversation with someone else. Much more productive than resorting to email, phone, or IM all the time.
Sadly, I've heard that those Tandbergs are super expensive...
Slingbox (Score:2)
Some options (from $$$ to cheap) (Score:2, Informative)
1. Tandberg or Polycom. I would guess this is out of the question due to price, but it needs to be mentioned since these folks install systems like this all the time and is used in mission critical operations.
They'll support remote pan&tilt of the cameras, microphones placed throughout your kitchen and lots of nice options. Be prepared to refinance your mortgage, though.
2. Surveillance cameras + PC on both ends, with a web browser w/ full screen camera view bookmarked. Expensive, and the picture quality
The answer is Lifesize (Score:2, Informative)
SIP Videophones? (Score:4, Interesting)
You'd need to do some port-forwarding in each router (UDP 5060 + the RTP ports) and 'dial' the other site by IP address - it's not hard on the GXV phones and it saves setting up proxys/sip servers/asterisk, etc. If you set each phone to auto-answer then it's not hard to re-establish the link if it fails for whatever reason.
Failing that, if you want to be PC/Laptop based - look for Ekiga...
I use a combination of GXV3000 video phones, Ekiga and my Nokia N900 to make/take video calls from my family and in-laws, although I use an Asterisk server to co-ordinate everything and we don't stream 24/7!
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Or look at a couple of Ojo 900's (also SIP) - not large screens, but rock-solid 30fps even at low bandwidth; they'll run 24-7 and the fee is low (and they're cheap). You can dial the bandwidth down if you want; they'll run a nice experience down to 120Kbps, and can do down to 80K@30fps. At 250K they're great. I know someone who had dinner with his fiance every night, 1000 miles apart, using Ojos. They'd leave them on as soon as both of them were home, in the kitchen while they both cooked.
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tinychat? (Score:2)
You could always use something like tinychat. Just create a room and password protect it so you don't a bunch of horny perverts telling your wife to show her boobs. It may not be completely private as I'm sure that someone at the provider could monitor, but who cares. If someone wanted to hear me talk to my kids about Mickey Mouse or my wife about the electric bill, I pity them because their life must suck.
use iPhone4 FaceTime (Score:4, Interesting)
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I recommend... (Score:2)
... one of those little Atom based mini PCs on each end. They are truly tiny and you can get versions for under $300 each. Now they even have dual core models.
Stuff the PCs in a cabinet and hook them up to a wall mounted flat screen monitor with built-in speakers and a USB Camera(wide angle)/Mic attached. The bigger the monitor you use, the more "telepresence" you'll experience. You can get a 20" for $120 or less. Then just run Skype w/video, 24/7.
I'd recommend this setup over a netbook or laptop sol
Pricy but... (Score:2)
They are pricey but what you want are a couple of Polycom VSX 5000 or similar units. Maybe you can find some on ebay or something. They are nice because you don't need to be technical to run them and they come with an easy to use remote control. You can even control the other units camera direction and zoom. The quality of both the audio and video are very good but, and this goes for all of your solutions, depends on the reliability and quality of your internet connection. You just need a TV or Monitor
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"If you cared about your family, you wouldn't leave for 6-9 months at a time. "
I'll put this kindly:
You're an idiot.
If you and family are so desperately co-dependent that being gone for less than a year is going to break things, you have much worse issues than being gone for a bit. Economic survival nowadays often means going to where the work is.
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And if anyone in Washington actually gave a damn about family values then making someone choose between unemployment in a brutal job market and being separated from family for months on end would be strictly illegal. But guess what?
So, what would you suggest as an alternative?
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You can do a few things. First, make it illegal to ADD the requirement to a job that doesn't currently have it and you can make it less critical that people accept whatever employment they can get even at the expense of their family.
There will indeed always be jobs where going away for an extended time is intrinsic. Let them be filled by people who freely choose them (and by freely choose, I do not mean choose or loose everything).
Then, there's a heap of jobs that could easily be made mostly telecommute but
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You REALLY missed the point. The idea is that the social safety net allows the family man to pass your job offer up without losing everything in the process. You just offer the job and you can assume the applicants want the job.
Nobody is obliged to make your life the way you want it.
Whatever you say massa.
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If you have to point out that it's a joke, it's not funny.
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While your written skills seem advanced for your age, you really shouldn't be using the internet without your mommy watching.
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See, now THAT is funny.
Re:Build a Camera Cart (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually Scott Hanselman has a better option using Skype and a dedicated PC he uses to talk to his family at home.
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/SkypingTheWifeFoolproofVideoConferencingWithYourFamilyWhileOnTheRoad.aspx [hanselman.com]
Doesn't take much to set up and would probably get one most of the way there.
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everything else would just be some hacked together video chat.
But conversely, everything else probably wouldn't involve selling your childrens' kidneys to pay for it :)
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You can always make more kids :)
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It'd look better on the iPad (if FaceTime on it ever comes to pass) but the audio would need attention. Perhaps a Bluetooth device would be the solution to that problem. Then again, maybe the rumoured iPod Touch with camera would be cheaper. Wait and see.