Many organisations have started embracing the hybrid style of work and Microsoft is seeking to add more value by bridging the gap between in-person and remote attendees through its Teams software.
On May 21st 2021, the company published a YouTube video that breaks down how its Teams software can turn the remote experience on its head and bring participants “into the room,” so everyone feels like they have a seat at the table and can be seen, heard, and participate – from anywhere.
As you can see, the video shows off an updated Rooms interface that will position remote participants near the bottom of the display to make it look like they have a seat at the table. Above them, two windows dedicated to the meeting chat and any action items that need attention flank the current presentation.
Features
- Intelligent Camera
Microsoft Teams Rooms has intelligent cameras that will optimise the view by framing the people in the room or following the active speaker. The Camera and microphone placements have also been optimised to identify the speaker while maintaining eye-contact with this person.
- Inclusive Features
It has some inclusive features such as the live captions, live transcription, ‘raise your hand’ character, live reactions, and chat to help participants flow during meetings. It provides opportunities to chime in nonverbally without interrupting the speaker.
- Whiteboarding Sessions
With the new Microsoft Teams, room participants can see and be involved in whiteboarding sessions. Microsoft Whiteboard provides a shared digital canvas, fostering collaboration and co-creation. The company has said that everyone in the room can ink directly on a Surface Hub 2S or from their phone or laptop to draw and brainstorm with colleagues, wherever they are.
Intelligent capture uses a content camera to capture, focus, resize, and enhance analog whiteboard images and text so that remote attendees can clearly see brainstorming in real time, even when someone is standing in front of the whiteboard.
Engadget’s report on Microsoft’s next move confirms that companies will need to have new hardware to complement those software enhancements.
“The screen that displays the Teams interface will be larger to make your colleagues appear more life-sized. Additionally, cameras placed at eye level will help make meetings feel more natural. Spatial audio, meanwhile, is there to make it so that the sound of a voice comes from the specific person talking on-screen,” the reporter added.
“Creating equitable, inclusive experiences starts with designing for people not in the room,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a LinkedIn post outlining the company’s broader thoughts on hybrid work. “We want to ensure those joining remotely are always first-class participants.”
For most companies, recreating Microsoft’s vision will involve investing in new hardware. In one of the demo rooms the company shows off, you can see its 85-inch Surface Hub 2S acting as the focal point of the meeting. That’s a “collaborative display” Microsoft sells for $22,000. The upgrades don’t stop at pricy screens either. The best possible Teams experience involves high-quality microphones installed into the ceiling of a room and an intelligent camera to track in-person participants.
Microsoft isn’t the only company thinking about the role technology can play in hybrid workspaces. At the start of the week, Google demonstrated Project Starline, which uses high-resolution cameras and depth sensors to create a real-time 3D model of a person who is “sitting” across you to re-create the feeling of having a face-to-face meeting. It’s a combination of specialized hardware and computer vision software that creates a “magic window” effect to make it feel like the person you’re communicating with remotely is in the same room as you.
