Fresh off the presses!

A Room with a (Virtual) View

July 7, 2009

When we began the journey to our new home in Toronto’s Historic Distillery District early last year, one of the biggest challenges we faced was the lack of windows in our soon-to-be boardroom. The space itself is spectacular but at about 178 years of age and only 3 stories tall, it lacked the vista views we had grown to love. (Our previous home was on the top floor of a beautiful Art Deco building overlooking the city’s core). So, rather than surrender to the inevitability of a cave-like boardroom, we decided to take some of the creativity and ingenuity that we normally save for our clients and put it to use within our own four walls. We also thought, “If we’re going to create a view … why just one?”

And so it started. Months of ideas, experimentation, trial and error before we finally got it right. Manipulating focal lengths, controlling perspectives, massaging light levels, designing a custom camera mounting system, synchronizing hi-definition feeds and building a new client/server architecture were all part of the process. A wireless build-out with custom carpentry completed the effect. Our windows wrap around 2 walls and provide the same effect as standing in a corner office and seeing 2 different (but very much linked) views. The only real difference is we have not one, but lots of views … all designed to set the right mood for any meeting and to stimulate the creative process!

We are currently in the process of commercializing this idea and making it available to anyone. So, if you have a somewhat subterranean rec-room in your home that could use a bit of a view, take heart --- we are working on the solution!

We invite you to drop by and visit us here at our Distillery District home and check out this technical marvel for yourself. We’d be happy to sit with you deep in the Costa Rican rainforest to discuss your communications needs – or to simply have a glass of wine with you at the end of the day perched upon the cliffs of Santorini. All without the bother of a tedious transatlantic flight.

Bottom Line: If you have interest in this for your business or home, drop us a note at connect@mclellangroup.com and we’ll keep you informed of developments.

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