Overview
Each hutch is equipped with a streaming computer dedicated to screen-sharing, Zoom, and other telepresence tools.
Conferencing Tools
The streaming computer has:
- A webcam (video and microphone)
- A Meeting Owl video conference device (video and microphone)
- A Magewell 4K Capture card (video only)
Zoom
The streaming computer has a dedicated Zoom account and session for the experiment. Please confer with the POC about connection information and/or using personal Zoom accounts.
Video and audio devices can be selected independently.
It is recommended that "Enable HD" be checked ON in Zoom's Video settings for the best streaming quality.
Using the Telepresence Devices
Logitech Webcam
While active, the border LEDs on the webcam will be lit with white light.
Video
The Logitech webcam is available in the Zoom video settings as a camera. It provides a 1080p feed from the camera mounted on the streaming computer's monitor.
Audio
The Logitech webcam's microphone is available in the Zoom audio settings. It provides the best audio when the speaker is seated at the streaming computer.
Meeting Owl
While active, the Meeting Owl's eye-like lights will be lit with white light.
Video
The Meeting Owl camera is available in the Zoom video settings as a camera. It provides both a 360-degree view from around the Owl as well as focused video of whoever is speaking. Speaker-focus has an effective range of about 12 feet (about 4 meters). The Owl microphone need not be the currently-selected Zoom microphone for this function.
Audio
Microphone
The Meeting Owl's microphone is available in the Zoom audio settings. It provides the best audio when speaker(s) are moving around the control or otherwise not seated at the streaming computer.
Speaker
The Meeting Owl has an integrated speaker and can be selected in the Zoom audio settings. The volume controls can be found on the base of the Meeting Owl as "+" and "-" buttons.
Magewell Capture
Video
One or more Magewell capture streams are available as cameras in Zoom's video settings. Each provides a 4K feed from a specific monitor from another control room computer.
Audio
The Magewell capture streams have no audio capability.
Showcam
Overview
Showcam is a script to open a video window on the desktop for a video device. Sourcecode is here.
Usage
showcam [OPTIONS] [SUBCOMMAND]
List Available Devices
showcam list
This will output a numbered list of available video devices. If a device is in use by another process, the output will also include the name of the process and its PID.
Show a Video Feed
To open a feed in a video window, use a command like this:
showcam show 0
where 0 is video device 0 from the showcam list command.
Options
The show subcommand supports the following options:
-m- Mirror the video feed. Useful for viewing webcam or Owl streams.-r- Set a resolution for the feed, such as "uhd," "sd", or custom ###x### (such as 640x480).
Overview
Content Tools
1 Comment
Gilliss Dyer
I haven't tested this yet but I'm wondering whether sharing a screen over zoom via showcam might be slower than having the streaming computer send it to the video device for the user and letting the screen act as the webcam. This is just based on the perceived lag on shared screen as compared to video from the control room. If that's the case then in MEC we should have the Owl hooked up to a different computer so that we can have the room video and the shared screen at a faster speed.