Show HN: Video conference from 6ft away using your hands or phone to interact
dj_mc_merlin 2021-08-19 11:55:03 +0000 UTC [ - ]
My .2: find a way to generalize the applications. It's common to start a business focusing on a specific niche and then expand, but I have a feeling this would work better as something that can integrate into many different other applications or workflows rather than a standalone product.
kwhitefoot 2021-08-19 14:26:58 +0000 UTC [ - ]
Why on earth not? I've been in plenty of video conferences over the years where plenty of the participants were more than 2 m away from the camera and screen. So much so that I would say that in my experience it was the most common way to do it in the offices where I have worked.
Not everyone is using their mobile phone for conferencing you know.
theptip 2021-08-19 15:10:13 +0000 UTC [ - ]
No moat; Google/Zoom will just build this if it’s popular and then you are out of business. Unless you can somehow stay ahead of them with sophistication of the UI?
I think plenty of people would like this feature, I just can’t see many people paying for it.
dalbasal 2021-08-19 13:36:56 +0000 UTC [ - ]
There's a chicken egg problem. Other than TVs, we don't really have devices that we use from 6 feet away. These ideas tend to come to fruition when either (a) you catch an egg in the act of hatching or (b) laying. The rest of the time, novel media usually lives in video games or porn.
One idea might be to make this a game, or game related. Playing poker or something, even against friends on videoconference, from a few feet away could be quite nice. I'm sure there are porn ideas too.
Kiro 2021-08-19 14:16:59 +0000 UTC [ - ]
staticautomatic 2021-08-19 12:48:46 +0000 UTC [ - ]
switchstance 2021-08-19 13:35:58 +0000 UTC [ - ]
bellyfullofbac 2021-08-19 15:14:10 +0000 UTC [ - ]
IMO the physical volume knob is better than this replacement, but I can see the usefulness of other gestures..
mattowen_uk 2021-08-19 12:39:16 +0000 UTC [ - ]
IF video conferencing is here to stay, then we would expect to see more larger screen consumer[1] devices appear with it built in. This has started to happen - Facebook has Portal and Amazon have Echo Show. Scale that up to a on-wall TV of 50"+ and you've got your room-size video conferencing setup, at which point gesture control will be a very nice add-on.
Right now though, people are still wrestling with how to do video calls, whist at their desks or with laptops on their laps.
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[1] Yes I know, that corporations have 'video conferencing ROOMS' with massive screens and multiple cameras but those are mega bucks, and not deployed en-mass.
sappho 2021-08-19 15:52:44 +0000 UTC [ - ]
yunusabd 2021-08-19 12:29:12 +0000 UTC [ - ]
I'm joking, but I wonder if I'm the only one who made that connection. Otherwise a different tag line might work better.
Apart from that I agree with the other posts regarding the business idea and choice of wardrobe in the demo.
I really like the idea of using your phone as a remote, I think this kind of I/O is generally underutilized. Personally I would explore that space some more, even though it's not as flashy as the gesture recognition.
fooblat 2021-08-19 12:16:35 +0000 UTC [ - ]
edit: typos
ericmichael 2021-08-19 14:38:12 +0000 UTC [ - ]
Some feedback: 1) I would really like to stress that you should be including and focusing on _why_ more than the what. The whole time reading the landing page I was wonder _why_ this exists and what problem it would solve. It is better to speak to someone than to speak to no one.
2) Use a higher quality video. I think some of the other comments are focused on the fact that you are a guy in shorts in a video. It would tell a more interesting story to give a demo of at least one situation or several situations where this would be useful. I would get a lot more out of this video if you staged a group fitness class or 1-on-1 training. This would give me a reason _why_ this exists but with relevant context. If the video was higher quality and it was a fitness setting I don't think anyone would care that you were in shorts
3) Interface Controls section. This section is confusing because the user cannot see the interface just the gestures. It would be better to give off a list of features and benefits rather than going into _how_ you use a feature with the specific gestures. Too much complexity when people haven't bought into the concept yet. Which reminds me, you should focus on selling the concept more than telling me step-by-step how to use it.
4) More controls from phone. This section is a relief because controlling everything using gestures _sounds_ exhausting. Maybe it isn't. But this should be more emphasized than the specific gestures. Controlling everything from my phone seems more intuitive for most people. And having the gestures for an interruption free experience seems like a nice to have.
5) Have you had a yoga or fitness instructor try this yet? Have you all done a live demo with them to validate the problem? Not saying you haven't, but if you have those are probably the best screenshots or video clips to show. If you have done them why aren't you showing us that. If you haven't done them, what are you waiting for?
I run a martial arts school and we have fitness classes. We also do private and group sessions. I can definitely see the use, but you gotta sell it. What is the dream you are selling for us? How is this better than in-person classes? Is it worse? Is it worse but makes us safe from COVID? Is it the next revolutionary way to bring fitness classes online in our new environment? Can influencers use this to monetize their audience?
chromaton 2021-08-19 14:57:19 +0000 UTC [ - ]
ekulianova 2021-08-19 14:20:55 +0000 UTC [ - ]
themanmaran 2021-08-19 13:10:16 +0000 UTC [ - ]
But the 'rock on' thumb swipe still feels a little uncomfortable. Especially when I get used to gesturing with my right hand, and then I have to carry my arm over my body to get to the Mute/UnMute.
Have you considered just pulling in some American sign language? The controls (mute, tile, etc.) could even have a depection of the hand symbol.
dalbasal 2021-08-19 13:32:46 +0000 UTC [ - ]
I"m definitely willing to learn a sign keyboard if it means not typing with arrows. If it also knows a full vocabulary...
vibranium_cough 2021-08-19 14:37:03 +0000 UTC [ - ]
ModernMech 2021-08-19 12:30:16 +0000 UTC [ - ]
cody_otoro 2021-08-18 15:52:05 +0000 UTC [ - ]
I’m Cody, one of the founders of WakaSaba. Traditional video conferencing platforms like Zoom assume that you’re right in front of your device. We created WakaSaba for “distance first” video conferencing and have built novel ways to interact with your room and control your device from afar:
- Hand Tracking: Turn your hands into a mouse and use it to point, select, and click. Supports basic room controls like muting / unmuting yourself and more advanced features like controlling a countdown timer that’s shown to everyone in the room
- Gesture Recognition: React to anything that happens with your hands. We capture certain hand gestures and broadcast them to everyone in a fun, engaging, and minimally(?) intrusive way
- Phone Pairing: Scan a QR code to turn your phone into a remote with access to additional controls and interactive features
Another core feature of our platform is that it’s all in the browser. We explicitly designed WakaSaba so that users wouldn’t need to download additional software or install any apps.
We originally built this for online fitness instructors, but recently have been thinking about what other industries and use cases might benefit from our technology. As a result, we’ve reoriented our landing page to focus less on “why” you might use our platform and more on “what” you can do with it. Now we want to get it in front of people to collect thoughts and general feedback.
Instructions if you want to try it out:
1) There’s a `Try a Free Room` button on our homepage
2) Clicking it will create a room that you can join / invite anyone to for 40 minutes, no email or sign up required
3) Before joining the room, there are some tutorial screens that go over our core feature set
Sorry in advance for any rough edges! We’ve deliberately prioritized getting this in front of people above all else :)
If you encounter any issues or have any questions / feedback I’m all ears! I should be around for the next couple hours.
hideo 2021-08-19 14:07:29 +0000 UTC [ - ]
I know several folks who would love something like this with a different set of gestures and end-results. Especially smaller operations who have switched from in-person to live during the pandemic. The bigger shops have space for a dedicated operator, but the smaller ones are just the instructors and their students in a zoom call.
I think the key is going to be in arriving at the right set of gestures for the right audience. e.g. yoga instructores are probably looking for ways to minimize/maximize certain screens. Aerobics instructors are looking to be able to mute and unmute and send directed feedback. Both types are often struggling to figure out lighting and how to position their cameras. On all sides I think something simple like capturing the entire class clapping along is hard to do. I think something like this would be perfect for that market.
Majestic121 2021-08-19 13:01:14 +0000 UTC [ - ]
The first thing that jumped to my mind is not that I can use it from 6ft away, but mostly that it can be used to control things even if I don't have the conf call window I'm in in the foreground (which happens to me quite a lot).
Some ideas I had while playing with it :
- Some sound feedback would be nice, for example a little bip when switching from value to value in a menu : in the context of not having the call in the foreground, it allows to make sure that the gesture is registered.
- Swipe gestures could be a nice addition, for example a swipe up or down to mute/unmute the mic
- I'm overall less convinced by the "control by phone" flow
- It's surprising for the welcome video to be without sound : I initially thought my headphones where not connected or something. Overall, I think the welcome video present the functionalities very well and goes straight to the point, which is very appreciable ! But it feels a bit rough around the edges.
- A bit of smoothing when selecting would make the experience a bit better : I don't want to know that my fingers are shaking this much !
But in any case, congratulation on the product, it's really really cool !
2021-08-19 12:48:22 +0000 UTC [ - ]
the-dude 2021-08-19 11:24:46 +0000 UTC [ - ]
For one I think it looks awesome and there might be a lot of potential.
That said, I think you should redo the video with long sleeves and pants. From the get-go, I can't be sure you won't be doing indecent things. I think it is too casual to be shared frictionless in a business setting.
Best of luck.
jacknews 2021-08-19 11:36:14 +0000 UTC [ - ]
And of course teaching yoga, aerobics, fitness, etc, etc.
corndoge 2021-08-19 15:22:20 +0000 UTC [ - ]
wccrawford 2021-08-19 11:52:55 +0000 UTC [ - ]
But perhaps that's the idea. This isn't some stuffy business-only thing, it's a system that could be used by anyone.
mguerville 2021-08-19 12:31:55 +0000 UTC [ - ]