Show HN: A virtual whiteboard for working or teaching remotely

1) SmartBoard is a giant LCD. Never seen this in the wild, but it exists. ~$8k.

2) Control-surface-only SmartBoard with integrated specialized projector. It hangs off the top-front of the board about 2 feet into the room, and covers the SmartBoard frame perfectly. Alignment is less of an issue since it can't move relative to the board. ~$6.5k.

These can be installed on a wall (labor costs) or on a wheeled cart (parts cost).

3) Control-surface-only SmartBoard installed on a wall, projector permanently installed on the ceiling. You (most likely) need a contractor to make the VGA/DVI run, install the projector mount in the ceiling, buy a projector, put the projector on it, align it, get an electrician to run power to the ceiling, etc.

This is what I most commonly see in classrooms. I worked for a contractor one summer, and a team of three of us could do ~4 classrooms in a day.

The board itself is around $2k. Projector + installation probably brings it up to around $3.5k.

4) Control-surface-only SmartBoard installed on a wall, projector sitting on a tabletop or A/V cart. Standing in front of the board to use it casts a shadow. There's an art form to standing the right amount off to the side. Some teachers were good at it, some weren't.

Smart Board would still be around $2k, and you can buy a ~$700 projector that'll do the trick.

I don't know what it costs to wall-mount the board in any of these configurations. Presumably if you have a couple of guys and drills, you can do it yourself and it'll only cost time.