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Tag: Together mode

  • Zoom Unveils Immersive View

    Zoom Unveils Immersive View

    Zoom has unveiled Immersive View, a way to bring together virtual participants into a single, cohesive view.

    Apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Skype and others have been instrumental to helping companies and individuals stay productive during the pandemic. In spite of their benefit, however, constantly being in virtual meetings has taken a toll on many employees, leading to what’s popularly called “Zoom fatigue.”

    Zoom is working to address that with its new Immersive View, designed to bring everyone together virtually in a way that feels more familiar and (hopefully) less taxing.

    Immersive View allows hosts to arrange video participants and webinar panelists into a single virtual background, bringing people together into one scene to connect and collaborate in a cohesive virtual meeting space.

    Whether you want to create the feeling of being in a classroom, a boardroom, a conference auditorium, or your favorite place to catch up with friends, Zoom’s Immersive View assembles up to 25 participants in one fun, consistent meeting environment.

    The new feature is similar to Microsoft Teams’ Together Mode, which the Redmond giant rolled out in July of last year. While Zoom may be nearly a year late to the party, at least it arrived with a catchier name.

  • Microsoft Rolls Out Together Mode to Improve Teams Meetings

    Microsoft Rolls Out Together Mode to Improve Teams Meetings

    Microsoft has rolled out Together mode to Teams in an effort to significantly improve video conferencing.

    As social distancing and remote work have become standard, video conferencing and communication tools have become critical components for individuals and businesses alike. Whether its corporate teams keeping in touch, churches conducting services or individuals keeping up with family and friends, Teams, Zoom, FaceTime, Skype and others have become lifelines.

    At the same time, video fatigue has taken its toll, with widespread reports of video conferencing being exhausting and draining on its users. Microsoft has set out to address that with its new Together mode.

    Together mode uses AI segmentation tech to create the illusion that everyone is together in the same place, such as a meeting room, auditorium or coffee shop. This creates a much more familiar and comfortable experience, as opposed to the traditional grid placement.

    “We’re social creatures, and the social and spatial awareness systems in the brain can finally function more naturally” within Together mode, says Microsoft’s Jaron Lanier.

    Microsoft Teams Meeting
    Microsoft Teams Meeting

    The end result is a more engaging experience “by helping you focus on other people’s faces and body language and making it easier to pick up on the non-verbal cues that are so important to human interaction. It’s great for meetings in which multiple people will speak, such as brainstorms or roundtable discussions, because it makes it easier for participants to understand who is talking.”

    With no immediate end in sight to the pandemic, improvements like this will go a long way toward helping people stay productive and connected.