Specifically what are we trying to achieve with Teams Rooms?
What are we really aiming for in hybrid meeting and teaching spaces?
As part of a series of short articles, Visual Displays' Director Greg Jeffreys discusses all things AV…
Maybe it sounds basic, but nevertheless it’s our challenge for 2022.
I’m uncomfortable with generalisations. Unless they crystallise into a clearly defined metric or attribute, then they’re like planes circling the airfield. You need to land them before they run out of fuel.
Can we agree that a high level need is for the remote and local participants to be able to communicate as if they are in the same physical space - or as close to this as possible?
Can we agree that this means beyond merely seeing and hearing each other, it means capturing as many of the tacit and subliminal cues that currently make the experience of everyone sitting in the same room that special thing that some homeworkers are now so homesick for? The body language, the exchanged glances, the tensions, hearing your boss sigh, the spontaneous laughter, the electricity in the room when someone finally says something that matters.
I see it as breaking the fourth wall, the theatrical term for the imaginary wall that separates the sides and back of the stage from the real world.
But. We’re still circling the airfield. Descending through the clouds, the proposition breaks into two discrete elements.
Firstly, the extent to which, by using the disciplines, IP and best practices that already exist, for example, in my other work in simulation and immersive displays, we can make that end wall of the room less of a barrier and more of a portal to the outside world.
Secondly, the extent to which organisations - at least as a starting point on the micro/macro scale - can develop the right virtual space, screen templates etc that, by consistent use and application, users become habituated and can suspend their disbelief to engage spontaneously with whatever work and people are at hand.
This is not an either/or proposition, it’s both. I believe the real granular issues cascade from these two core propositions: an intellectual framework from which palpable improvements will be made. Rapidly. This year. But how rapidly?
The lubricant that frees these processes is the holistic approach. If the entire room is not regarded as an integrated system, from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, you’ve limited your potential outcomes before you start. This is a primary reason why I've worked so hard to align AV standards with relevant building and environmental standards.
Posted: 24th January 2022