Nowadays, video chatting is as common as talking to someone face to face with mobile apps in our smartphones like Skype, Facebook, and...
Nowadays, video chatting is as common as talking to someone face to face with mobile apps in our smartphones like Skype, Facebook, and other social media. But in the years past, many inventors and futurists have already envisioned a future with videophones where anyone can talk to other people face to face both near and far.
During the 1964 World's Fair, Bell Labs has unveiled the so-called Picturephone where anyone can talk to someone through a phone but has a video feed of the receiver on the other end. Unfortunately, it was a very expensive technology and infrastructure was not there yet. Besides, the receiver should have their own Picturephone as well so you can communicate with them.
Interestingly, the Germans have also invented their own video conferencing technology with the Reichspost in 1936. It was a public videophone service, it is widely believed that only important people can only use it and the service discontinued during the outbreak of World War 2.
There were pre-war illustrations from popular magazines that envisioned portable versions of it where users have handheld video receivers with microphone while sound is provided by the headphones. Users have to carry the bulk of the hardware on their sides. Some earlier versions operate like regular telephones but a projector projects an image of the receiver on the other end.
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