[HN Gopher] Show HN: Video conference from 6ft away using your h...
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Show HN: Video conference from 6ft away using your hands or phone
to interact
Author : cody_otoro
Score : 117 points
Date : 2021-08-18 15:49 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.wakasaba.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.wakasaba.com)
| ModernMech wrote:
| Very cool, I could use something like this as I teach! I was
| waiting for you to control that BB-8 remotely with your hands
| though!
| cody_otoro wrote:
| @ModernMech, what do you teach if you don't mind me asking? I'd
| love to hear from you at cody@wakasaba.com
|
| FWIW, our product roadmap is quite malleable right now and we
| could provide you with a room with higher time limits (+ some
| other cool features we've been testing) if that's at all
| enticing :)
| saulrh wrote:
| Can you provide integrations with other videoconferencing suites?
| This would be great when I'm stuck reserving a huge conference
| room and can't reach the controls from where I'm sitting, but
| there's no way in heck I'm convincing my employer to switch from
| $EnterpriseVideoconferencingSuite to your startup's offering.
| However, since said enterprise videoconferencing suite does have
| a webapp, said webapp is happy to communicate with browser
| extensions, and you're doing everything with image recognition, I
| bet you could do most of this stuff on my laptop so I could use
| your UI without having to convince my employer to switch to your
| servers/software/codecs/security/auditing.
| dj_mc_merlin wrote:
| I _love_ the execution. The business idea? Not so much. I just
| don 't think there's a big market for video conferencing from 6ft
| away.
|
| 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.
| saimiam wrote:
| I can see a lot of Toastmasters clubs using some form of this
| technology.
| Kiro wrote:
| I'm thinking this is for people like yoga live streamers, not
| regular video conferencing.
| dalbasal wrote:
| >> don't think there's a big market for video conferencing from
| 6ft away.
|
| 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.
| staticautomatic wrote:
| Reminds me of a UI designer I worked with once who had an idea
| for controlling phone audio playback with gestures while
| driving (with the phone in a cradle). There have to be lots of
| other neat applications.
| switchstance wrote:
| BMW offers similar capabilities to aid in distraction free
| driving.
|
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_mGwJh4da5w&vl=en
| bellyfullofbac wrote:
| Funny how she's still staring at the central console
| display as she's doing the volume gestures...
|
| IMO the physical volume knob is better than this
| replacement, but I can see the usefulness of other
| gestures..
| kwhitefoot wrote:
| > don't think there's a big market for video conferencing from
| 6ft away.
|
| 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 wrote:
| Is this a product or a feature though? Seems very much a
| feature in a VC software product to me.
|
| 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.
| hideo wrote:
| Hello, I think this idea is fantastic. Since you said you've
| prioritized getting this in front of people - please make sure
| you're talking to folks who are doing remote fitness, yoga, and
| dance classes.
|
| 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.
| FajitaNachos wrote:
| I think a remote with buttons that can be customized (think
| hotkeys) that integrates with existing video conferencing
| solutions is the holy grail
| cody_otoro wrote:
| > I know several folks who would love something like this
|
| We'd love to talk to them! If you have any contacts who'd feel
| comfortable talking to us and influencing where we go from
| here, I'd love to hear from you / them at cody@wakasaba.com
|
| > I think the key is going to be in arriving at the right set
| of gestures for the right audience...
|
| This makes sense. We've mostly been working with Pilates
| instructors, but this is a good reminder to talk to people
| running all types of remote fitness classes.
| [deleted]
| cody_otoro wrote:
| Hey everyone!
|
| 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.
| achairapart wrote:
| Just look out for the hand gestures, some represent a variety of
| meanings and may be even offensive in certain
| countries/cultures[0].
|
| [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_of_the_horns
| Majestic121 wrote:
| I think the idea is super cool, and the execution works very well
| ! Definitely much better than what I anticipated.
|
| 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 !
| the-dude wrote:
| Hi Cody,
|
| 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.
| corndoge wrote:
| Are we looking at the same video? He's wearing shorts and a
| t-shirt, something you might see in any warm climate anywhere
| in the world (that isn't a caliphate)
| mguerville wrote:
| Agreed, beyond the casualness it feels like a little hacked
| experiment right now. Better lighting, background and outfit
| would make a massive difference in overall vibe in my opinion.
| I like the idea though
| jacknews wrote:
| What kind of 'business setting'? This looks ideal for certain
| professional online, uh, performers.
|
| And of course teaching yoga, aerobics, fitness, etc, etc.
| wccrawford wrote:
| I didn't have any worry about "indecent things", but I did feel
| like those particular shorts gave it an ultra-casual feeling.
| Like a day at the beach.
|
| But perhaps that's the idea. This isn't some stuffy business-
| only thing, it's a system that could be used by anyone.
| mattowen_uk wrote:
| I love this, but I think it's one of those ideas, where people
| dismiss it as impractical at the time, but then it comes back in
| force a couple of years down the line.
|
| 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.
|
| ---
|
| [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.
| vibranium_cough wrote:
| The Mmhmm app has a feature like this implemented really well.
| This would be great to see integrated into video conferencing in
| general as the space gets more attention.
| cody_otoro wrote:
| Thanks for sharing! Mmhmm wasn't on our radar, but we had
| considered applying our tech to "virtual business presentations
| at a distance". Interesting to see how Mmhmm is approaching the
| problem of making virtual presentations more engaging.
| ericmichael wrote:
| Interesting technology I think it is super cool and the
| implementation looks good.
|
| 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?
| sappho wrote:
| I could see gestural controls like this being a useful feature
| for Twitch streamers, too! It seems like a form of gesture-based
| control that's reliable, fast, and powerful enough that it isn't
| just a gimmick.
| fooblat wrote:
| Something to consider: To stand 6' away and still be able to read
| the things people at my company present via screen share I would
| need a 10' screen (or binoculars).
|
| edit: typos
| dalbasal wrote:
| This makes me curious about sign language recognition.
|
| I"m definitely willing to learn a sign keyboard if it means not
| typing with arrows. If it also knows a full vocabulary...
| chromaton wrote:
| The Obsbot Tiny webcam also has some gesture control, but not
| quite as extensive as this. I love the tracking feature that lets
| me move around without having to about staying in the frame.
| themanmaran wrote:
| After playing with it for a bit, the two finger swipe and click
| feels pretty intuitive.
|
| 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.
| sfink wrote:
| I've been thinking about doing something like this forever, but
| never taken the time to sit down and do it. (And probably
| couldn't have done a particularly good job of it anyway.) My main
| usage scenarios are:
|
| - using my hand as a mouse in space-constrained situations where
| I can't have a physical mouse
|
| - dance class, so the instructor can seek through music,
| especially for rewinding to the same starting spot over and over
| again. (This is from the days of in-person classes; it drove me
| nuts that the instructor had to keep walking back to his phone
| and then getting it a few beats off)
|
| - spellcasting game
|
| For many uses, I'd be really concerned with false positives. I
| don't want to have to pin my arms to my sides to avoid triggering
| something. I'd also want it to be pretty robust to different
| angles, so I don't have to get my hand exactly parallel to the
| camera. (Seeing yourself is pretty good for smoothing this over,
| since at least you'll notice when you're not pointing in quite
| the right direction. But some applications would be much nicer if
| they were usable without seeing yourself.)
|
| Overall, this feels more like a tech demo than an application.
| Sadly, you'll probably have to pick some niche to focus on,
| because I think the tradeoffs are going to be very different. And
| dance teachers and yoga instructors don't have much money.
| (WakaSaba also doesn't exactly suggest the functionality to this
| English-speaker.)
| ekulianova wrote:
| This looks amazing! However, as other commentators say: right now
| there are not a lot of use cases for that. It will be hard to go
| to market because you'll have to create that market. I wish you
| good luck in that because potentially this can be something huge!
| [deleted]
| cody_otoro wrote:
| Hey folks! Cody from WakaSaba again.
|
| Honestly blown away by all the amazing feedback / thoughts here.
| I was not expecting to wake up to this considering this post had
| 3 upvotes when I went to bed haha
|
| Just wanted to let you know that my cofounder, Vince, and I are
| slowly making our way through all of the comments and hope to
| thank / answer most of you properly soon :)
| yunusabd wrote:
| Now the real challenge would be to make it work from six feet
| _under_. ;)
|
| 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.
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