He envisions a day — in the near future — when a far-away student can sit in front of his home computer and log flight-simulation hours under the watchful eye of an instructor hundreds of miles away.

Similar possibilities exist for other students, such as engineering students who have trouble making it to their lab time.

Dr. Harvey Mecham, a chemist and the school's scientist-in-residence, said Utah needs to produce more experts in electronics technology, and virtual control of a distant lab like the one on display Monday could help expand the pool of eligible students.

"We have the capacity to run a lab 24/7," he said. "It's not really distance learning. It's interactive."

Other companies and organizations also showed how high-speed technology can increase the range of possibilities for businesses and individuals alike. Sony IVE, which stands for Instant Video Everywhere, is an advanced teleconferencing technology that allows users to have video-telephone conversations over their computer, in front of a Web cam, without any lag time.

Callers can leave voice-and-video messages if they call an IVE user who doesn't answer. When a call is missed, the user's cell phone can be paged and the user can go online and download the missed video call. Calls can be saved and their video and audio replayed later.

IVE costs subscribers $49 monthly.

Sony also has a larger-scale version of the technology that can be used for international conference calls and other distant business calls that require face-to-face interaction. The technology was used by ESPN during the NFL and NBA drafts, as reporters interviewed distant coaches without the lag time common of satellite interviews.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com