Voice activated camera/ multipoint switching and Camera preset settings in Video Conferencing systems
¤ In a video conferencing system, generally a number of people are involved at every site. If the camera could automatically turn and focus on the person who is speaking in real time, it would help others to identify who is speaking – this is the function of voice activated cameras.
¤ Voice activated cameras can either automatically focus on the person who is speaking or the same can be obtained by storing certain pre-set positions for the camera. This helps bring individual attention.
¤ When more than two sites are involved, the camera screen could be put to a multipoint switching mode, where the people from the site who are actually speaking at a given point of time can appear in full screen for all the sites. This helps in the interaction.
Voice activated Cameras in Video Conferencing:
There are certain video conferencing systems which come with a voice activated camera – the camera turns in the direction of the speaker so that every one in the conference can focus on who is speaking. This may require more than two microphones and the setting can be turned on or off in the interface. While this is simple and requires little or no efforts from the users or admin, it could be quite slow in turning to the user who is actually speaking. And when there are other sounds in the room like some one opening the door, papers flipping loudly etc. there could be some confusions.
Camera Pre-sets:
This is an alternative to the voice activated cameras. The user could set certain pre-set positions in the cameras either before the conference or during the conference, and at the touch of a button, can directly make the cameras focus on that speaker. But this is hard to co-ordinate, as it needs to be done manually. May be some numbering on the name plates or chairs could help manage this feature better. But it is more accurate and controlled.
Voice activated Camera Pre-sets:
This is a more practical usage of camera pre-set positions. But this time, the camera moves to the pre-set position based on the voice activation – who is speaking. This is better because, there is no requirement for a person to be sitting in the conference room, pressing the various pre-set keys and even if there is going to be some disturbing noise, the system can handle it better. But for activating this feature, you need more than one mike. Perhaps one mike per every four people in the conference. Some systems also give you an extended view of the whole room or a couple of neighbouring positions when more people are simultaneously speaking. This is also a helpful feature to have.
Multi-site voice activated switching in Video Conferencing:
When you have initiated a multi conference, the screen generally divides in to four or more parts to accommodate the other sites to be simultaneously shown in the conference. This view would make each site look small and hence the view would not be clear. When the voice activated multi-site switching feature which is available in some video conferencing systems is activated, the screen appears in full screen mode but it shows the site which is actively engaged in the conversation at present. Practically, this is the best way to have a multi-conference. But if the crowd is too noisy or all of them need to be viewed on the same screen (a bigger screen perhaps) then it is ok to have a divided screen view.
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