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Two Way Mirror Improves Video Conferencing
- dirtnugget 6y agoWell, sadly it makes the laptop basically unusable without external mouse and keyboard.
- gowld 6y agoIt's for video-calls, which don't need mouse and keyboard.
- dirtnugget 6y agoWell, when I do video calls at work (and thats more than 90% of my video calls) I frequently find myself needing to look up something or edit tickets in Jira. Or showing code. So I would argue, some people do.
- nkristoffersen 6y agoEssentially a teleprompter. Been looking at doing something with my external camera for all of the video calls these days. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Teleprompters/ci/2122/N/4028759394 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Teleprompters/ci/2122/N/4...
- xyzzy_plugh 6y ago> Checkout is unavailable while we observe Shabbat. Please come back when checkout reopens at 9:00 pm ET Sat Aug 22 Huh, I guess this never crossed my mind, but makes sense. TIL.
- stan_rogers 6y agoIt has ever been thus. Back in the day, when film still ruled the world and B&H's main claims to fame were grey market and East European cameras, they were widely known as Kosher Kamera in the enthusiast world. Back then, you needed to be careful about the day and time you posted a mail order as well. (The prohibition extends beyond working to causing work. While they didn't consider mail in flight to be their responsibility, any order postmarked between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday was, in a sense, their fault.)
- kuon 6y agoWell, I really hate eye contact and never look people in the eyes, so this wouldn't be something interesting for me. I wonder if I am alone or if this is common.
- mahathu 6y agoit's common for people suffering from autism spectrum disorders, not so much in the general population.
- gowld 6y agoWe're not suffering from autism spectrum disorders; we're suffering from people starting at us.
- lnanek2 6y agoThat's actually an advantage in the remote work world, because you can stare at the camera and people will think you are looking them in the eyes. They'll trust you more thinking you are, and if you can't read their face anyway, there's no loss to you due to looking at the camera instead of their face.
- randycupertino 6y agoI've found I trust people less who are staring at the camera, because they are prioritizing building psuedo-webcam empathy over actually looking at and following along with/understanding our shared screen. I dunno. But at some point you can tell who's faking it. Sort of like someone who read How to Win Friends and Influence People and follows it to the letter- they use your name too often shoehorned into conversations and ask about your dog a little too early and enthusiastically with feigned interest. Perhaps this is a cynical viewpoint brought on negatively from too many zoom webcam meetings!
- jesselawson 6y agoRandy I think that's a great take. I can tell you put a lot into it, Randy. That's great. Books are great resource for learning--I agree, Randy!
- dorkwood 6y agoIt's funny how videos such as this, which are optimized for engagement over learning, explain things in a backwards fashion. Instead of explaining how the thing works, and then showing you how to make the parts to build one yourself. They show you how to make the parts, and only explain what it is you're building at the very end.
- sukilot 6y agoIt's explained in the beginning of the video.
- dorkwood 6y agoThe general idea of what he's building is explained ("a system that allows you to retain eye-contact with whoever you're talking to over the internet"), but how it works is not covered. He dives straight into how to build the collapsible shrowd while saying "this is super important for the whole system to work, as you will see", and only covers its purpose much later in the video.
- RandomBacon 6y agoIt's also annoying when they don't show how the finished result works until the very end. This video is also guilty of this (you see the device, but the video call where it's being used is at the end). Why waste 10+ minutes watching it being built, then finaly get to the end and discover it you don't like the result. Of course smarter people will just click to the end at first, but I'm guessing much less than half of people do that. Sidenote: Does anyone know why these videos all seem to be at least 10 minutes long? Is there better monetization after a certain threshold?
- sulam 6y agoThere's a couple factors going on. One is the fact that Youtube's algorithm recommends videos based on a set of engagement-related metrics. Hitting Like/Subscribe is a big measure of engagement, but according to people do this for a living, the most important metric is watch time. This is true both for the video _and_ your channel, so having a lot of long, fully watched videos will cause your channel and its videos to be recommended more often. The second factor is that one factor you get paid on as Youtuber is video length. Getting people to watch longer videos makes your revenue go up.
- dTal 6y agoCouldn't you lie the screen completely flat and build it the other way (reflecting the screen and passing through the camera), avoiding the keyboard problem?
- CrazyStat 6y agoThat's how traditional teleprompters work: screen below reflecting off the half-silvered mirror, camera behind. Many laptop screens don't open completely flat, so that may not work for this particular concept.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- throwaway316943 6y agoThe tutorial is already suggesting harvesting a web cam from a laptop, why not just extract the screen instead? Lots of info and equipment out there for repurposing laptop screens.
- gowld 6y agoFlat (really, parallel to ground) doesn't matter -- you just need to adjust the angle of mirror to match.
- berryg 6y agoWhy not use an iPad. IPad on a flat surface and a webcam or any other camera behind the mirror. You can even build a custom mirror-camera using a raspberry-pi, a rip webcam and a small lcd screen. Sounds like a nice DIY project.
- spankalee 6y agoWith so much multi-image computational photography and video processing these days, I've been wondering whether we could have a multiple camera system (with cameras on the top, bottom, left, and right of the screen) and a processor that can simulate a camera in the center of the screen - or even dynamically moved to the eyes of the caller. I know there's a bunch of research on viewpoint interpolation, but how close might we be to a dedicated processor to be able do this in a laptop, or at least specialized VC monitor?
- ponker 6y agoApple had this in a beta iOS and then removed it.
- jjeaff 6y agoInteresting. I had heard that they do it by default in FaceTime, but I had not been able to detect it.
- Mr_P 6y agoIOS 13 has a feature that can do something to that effect: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/07/facetime-feature-in-ios-13-feigns-eye-contact-during-video-calls/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/07/facetime-feature-in-...
- anamexis 6y agoThey didn't end up shipping it.
- jborichevskiy 6y agoI was wondering what happened to it! Makes sense, weird uncanny eyes might be ok in a work conferencing tool but I think FaceTime is used for too many personal and intimate calls for it to be acceptable.
- rwc 6y ago
- oojuliuso 6y agoWouldn't surprise me if Apple's first to market with iPhones and MacBooks with iSight cameras embedded in the display. But is it even possible? Wouldn't the camera lens have to be of comparable size to a display pixel?
- allenu 6y agoErrol Morris famously uses a two-way mirror contraption for his documentaries so that when he interviews his subjects, they are looking directly into the camera as if they were talking to you. It definitely gives a more intimate feel when the subjects are talking.
- op03 6y agoThats how Errol Morris does his magic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEsoSR2npes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEsoSR2npes (The Interrotron)
- tyingq 6y agoA diagram of how it works: https://a.fastcompany.net/upload/interrotron1.jpg https://a.fastcompany.net/upload/interrotron1.jpg
- ladberg 6y agoSome incredible foreshadowing at 2:00
- sn41 6y agoYes, in fact his documentaries are initially unnerving, because suddenly you see Robert Mc Namara shouting at you : https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317910/
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- simonhamp 6y agoI always recall an Apple patent[1] from years ago that posited interspersing the camera pixels with the display pixels. I wonder where they got with that... [1]: https://patents.google.com/patent/US7535468B2/en https://patents.google.com/patent/US7535468B2/en
- rootsudo 6y agoI make sure to video conference right in front a mirror and I find it's no issue for me, but for this video: 1. The video itself uses the cliche "weird" baitclick. 2. Honey sponsership. On Hackaday. That's just sad, hackaday used to not be like that. Guess really it's the times.
- l0b0 6y agoRelated video[1] about teleprompters, including some insight into the nitty gritty. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeRu4xYH_W0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeRu4xYH_W0
- manigandham 6y agoSide note: that channel (DIY Perks) has tons amazing projects. I'll never actually do any of them but the project breakdowns and assembly are fun to watch.
- athenot 6y agoThis is a cool idea, I often wondered about this. These days I'm on a 5k monitor and when having a more direct conversation in a meeting, I make a point to place my Webex video window at the top and center of my screen. (I never run it maximized, only 1/4 of height & width, so 1/16 of my screen realestate.) I tested this setup with PhotoBooth and compared when I look at my own face vs. the actual camera. The difference is minor. Bonus, it signals to whom I'm speaking whether I'm looking at some other window or at them. This is useful for empathetic listening.
- wiradikusuma 6y agoAt the end of the video, he tried it with his friend who's not using the apparatus. Yet, her eyes seem to be looking at him too. What do you think?
- Rapzid 6y agoFirst, I think that's his mum because the video said it was his mum. Second, I think it doesn't look like her eyes are directed at the camera like his, because they are not.
- thomasahle 6y agoMe too. I felt like she was looking more into my eyes than he was. Maybe I've just gotten too used to video calls...
- chrisan 6y agoThat was actually my initial reaction too. I've found if people are just a lil bit further away from their camera they appear to be looking at me anyways. A conference call should be like a conference table wrt how big their head should appear, once you reach that distance I really can't tell you aren't looking directly into the camera
- gowld 6y agoHe also wears brightly colored contacts and opens his eyelids extra wide to create an uncanny-valley fake-human youtube persona. His lightbox setup is better than his mom's, but everything else about his setup was worse.
- chenster 6y agoFacetime will be doing that in iOS 14 https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/06/22/facetime-eye-contact-correction-feature-to-launch-with-ios-14 https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/06/22/facetime-eye-cont...
- sn41 6y agoVery cool. This is somewhat similar to the mechanism of flipping a rearview mirror in order to dim lights from behind at night.
- kstenerud 6y ago> but that means you aren’t looking at the camera and, thus, you aren’t making eye contact. But that's what I love most about video conferencing: You don't have to make eye contact. The only thing better is voice-only with a shared presentation space.
- hazeii 6y agoIf you have a multi-monitor setup, make a slight gap between two of them and put the camera behind the gap. Then position the video window so the camera is central to it.
- c-st 6y agoWouldn't that split the face of the person you are talking to in half?
- gunnarmorling 6y agoWorking on a similar set-up myself; got a proof-of-concept running using Duplo bricks [1], the quality of good teleprompter glass is really impressive. [1] https://twitter.com/gunnarmorling/status/1296043605459705856 https://twitter.com/gunnarmorling/status/1296043605459705856
- Tepix 6y agoYou can‘t adjust the camera position quickly during a video call, can you?
- mathieuh 6y agoI haven't actually had a single video-conference since lockdown started. Plenty of audio-conferences with 50+ people for show and tells, and if two people turn their cameras on it's suprising. Personally I'm very happy with this. Means you can tune out and keep working on stuff that matters to you when the call starts going off-track or out of your area.
- nottorp 6y agoThe best way to improve video conferencing is to stop doing video conferencing.
- hyperbovine 6y agoThis is basically just a teleprompter in reverse. If you’re okay with spending slightly more $$, just buy one of those instead: https://www.amazon.com/Glide-Gear-TMP100-Adjustable-Teleprompter/dp/B019AJOLEM/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=teleprompter&qid=1598187692&sr=8-3 https://www.amazon.com/Glide-Gear-TMP100-Adjustable-Teleprom...
- throwaway316943 6y agoWhat we really need is a decent AR or VR headset for remote conferencing.
- wildpeaks 6y agoEven better, 3D screens like Looking Glass that require no contact with the display.
- gowld 6y agoIf you are wearing a headset, what would your conversation partners see?
- throwaway316943 6y agoAn avatar. You really don’t need much else to get a superior experience to a video call. Being able to turn towards the person who is speaking, see the posture they are holding and have 3D audio is far better than 2d faces in little boxes. It’s also lighter on bandwidth so you don’t wind up talking to laggy robots.
- Zenst 6y agoThis trick has been used for a whole in VC studio's for decades and I first encountered this in the 90's. Being able to get eye-level contact with the camera when people will want to look at the screen - this just solves that. Just not cheap. Though lighting was always key and with the two-way mirror set-up, you will want a few more lumens to compensate for loss of that mirror in front of the camera.
- Someone1234 6y ago"VC Studio?"
- Zenst 6y agoVideo conferencing room dedicated for such tasks.
- ghaff 6y agoQuite cool although: 1.) I find if you put the video conference window top and center of a monitor--preferably a larger one--it works pretty well so long as you make at effort to keep your eyes towards the top of the screen. This is especially important (and takes some discipline) if you're presenting from slides. 2.) The general recommendation, which is my experience as well, is that the webcam should be up at eye level or maybe a bit above. So if you are using a laptop, it should be up on some books or other type of stand.
- Terretta 6y agoThe GlideGear iPad teleprompter is under $200 and saves a lot of time if you’re pressed for time: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B019AJOLEM/ https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B019AJOLEM/ The setup is to use an iPad hosting Sidecar wireless display from your Mac. Use Moom or similar screen management app that detects kicking on the new display, and pops your meeting video windows onto it at full dimensions (but not ‘full screen’ mode). If the other person is both on video and sometimes sharing content, you need to flip the video horizontally, which isn’t obvious. There are three options: 1. Check if your display can flip the video. 2. Use SwitchResX if your graphics card can do it for that particular monitor: https://www.madrau.com/ https://www.madrau.com/ If it can, great. If it cannot, then ... 3. Use the Flip Mac Window utility from here, so you’ll see it the right way around in the mirror: https://www.freetelepromptersoftware.com/mac/ https://www.freetelepromptersoftware.com/mac/ How this works is it screen captures the original window, and plays it back flipped over top of the window. That means actual buttons / icons are not moved, only the rendering of the window is flipped. If you need to navigate the window, unflip it first. Note that 12.9” iPads only fit in this GlideGear if you re-shape the mirror brace, but the mirror is large enough for a 12.9” iPad and it looks fantastic. I like coupling this with Logitech Brio (best) or Logitech Streamcam (good). I‘ve used it extensively with WebEx, Zoom, and Teams.
- nooyurrsdey 6y agocool idea. but a picture is worth a thousand words. would've loved a simple image of the setup instead of reading 5 paragraphs describing it, found it really hard to parse in my head.