Many businesses have clamped down on travel budgets by turning to online meetings.  Webex, Gotomeeting, and in-house solutions connect audiences and presenters around the globe from their desks, their laps, and their phones.

Of course, there is no real replacement for personal, face-to-face interaction.  But as  cost-consciousness replaces the niceties, online interactivity is on its way to mainstream.

Some still have their doubts.  We’ve heard strong protests saying that people won’t feel comfortable discussing personal or confidential information this way.

To those who still have such doubts, consider this research excepted from mediacenteronline.com publication “Trends 2010.”

[from Trends 2010; mediacenteronline.com]

The growing demand for real-time interactions will result in more than just clones of Twitter-like-services expected to hit the Web in 2010.  Many of the most interesting and out-of-the-box innovations that will impact lives during the next  year include:

Online funerals. While webcasting a funeral may seem morbid, Funeralrecording.com and Funeralone.com are starting to gain attention because the services allow more people to share in the ceremony without the expense of travel.

Life-casting. Given the integration of cell phones, high-speed 3G services, and a growing desire to connect with people in more tangible ways, life-casting services such as Qik.com will allow users to easily stream live, quality videos from their mobile phones in real-time.

Video gaming gets physical. Taking lessons from the popular Wii, Microsoft’s new Xbox controller is the user. Called “Kinect”, players can perform dance movies or kick a ball, while a camera tracks the movements and shows the results on screen. Sony’s new PlayStation Motion Controller features a wand that helps accomplish the same person-as-the-controller goal.

Content aggregated. Digg.com and other services help web surfers find interesting stories and pictures and YouTube.com allows people to share videos. Toobla.com aggregates videos, photos, documents and Websites, to store and share them online, making content more interesting and accessible for others in a person’s network.

Gadgets for gadgets. The earlier versions of cell-phone boosters were disappointing, but the zBoost ONE, which increases connection three bars, will allow people in rural areas to participate in the mobile revolution and make high-speed access viable for everyone.