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How University students have developed 360/Shared VR content to enhance empathy
26th May 2021
Virtual reality (VR) is often referred to as the ‘empathy machine’ since it doesn’t just show you other people’s experiences…
With more-and-more travel restrictions in place, and more-and-more meetings postponed, more-and-more Igloo clients are asking about the video conferencing and virtual-meeting capabilities of our immersive spaces.
Several options have always been available (for example, using our Igloo Web and Igloo Capture applications paired with a common-or-garden webcam, you can easily patch-in a Skype call or log-in to Microsoft Teams, or Google Hangouts, or Zoom, or whatever). But, using the awesome Jabra Panacast, a 4K 180° video conferencing camera, we’ve been taking things a few steps (if not giant leaps) further.
As you can see from the pics and video, we’ve been perfecting the process for running Igloo-to-Igloo meet-ups, using a Panacast in each space. And the experience is quite uncanny.
Although the two systems are almost 200 miles apart, you’re not quite sure where one Igloo begins and the other one ends. Everyone’s full-bodied and life-size (instead of appearing as a disembodied head-shot). You can see where everyone’s looking, read their body language, and even make eye contact. And, once you’ve settled into the space, behaviour becomes very natural. At one point, Igloo co-founder Colin Yellowley (in Igloo HQ) and Head of Software and Application Development Gareth Williams (in Igloo Shoreditch) even reached out to shake hands.
It’s all a far cry from the somewhat laboured and disjointed video conferencing experience we’re perhaps more accustomed to. And the amazing thing is that we’re running this over standard South Shropshire broadband speeds (if you know the area, you’ll feel our pain).
We’ve done it with 2x cameras in 2x Igloos. We could easily bring in a third Igloo (and maybe even a fourth, and a fifth, and so on). Or we could maybe integrate it with other technologies (like our friends at The Wild, or with more conventional video conferencing set-ups).
So, if you’re an Igloo client (or if you plan to become one), you can see that more-and-more options for virtual meetings are opening-up. And if you’re part of an organisation looking for new ways to bring people together, we’d love to hear from you and explore the possibilities.
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Categories: Shared VR, News
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