Spatial Audio and Video in your Online Meeting
How spatial video conferencing can improve how you chat with others?
Firstly, what is spatial or proximity based audio and video?
Imagine you're physically attending a conference, cocktail party or an office event. There are a number of separate tables, attending participants grab a beverage of their choice and gather in groups to discuss topics that are dear to their heart. In order to speak with someone they need to get closer so the other person can hear them. If anyone wants to approach a group and join a conversation he needs to get there first. If the group is far away, you will her them less.
This is exactly how flat.social works but in a virtual setting. Movement and space are at the core here. Each participant that join a room in a flat.social meeting can move around freely like in any two dimensional multi-player game.
To speak with another participant, simply fly up to them. Wanna leave the conversation? Fly somewhere else.
How is a spatial meeting different?
When attending an online meeting via classical video conferencing software (like Zoom or Microsoft Teams) you will be presented with a static screen where you can see some of the other participants. There is usually only one main topic of the conversation at a time. That is, unless everyone is shouting over each other.
Being a participant of a meeting on flat.social is a much more natural experience. How does it work? Just as we described above, joining a conversation is as simple as flying up to someone. If you're too far away, other guests won't hear you.
Starting a Chat - just fly up to the person or a group that you'd like to speak with. Easy. No special buttons, no starting another call. You will be connected automatically.
Ending a Chat - simply fly away and talk with someone else! :) Your audio and video will seamlessly disconnect from them when you're not in proximity to each other.
Walls and Private Areas - other participants won't be able to hear you if you hide into a room that is divided away by walls. This allows for a better organization of the virtual space and a natural division of different conversation topics and adds another dimension to the proximity.
What are the main benefits?
More Natural Conversations - the spatial aspect allows for multiple conversations to happen at the same time. New break-out rooms are created organically without any additional hassle. No need to click anything - it's all about where the participants are at a given time.Read more about how to organize an engaging meeting on flat.social
Fun & Creative - someone new joined up? Fly up and greet them. Entire team moving to another conversation? Travel together! The intersection of spatial audio and video with the ability to move creates a unique and fun experience for all of the participants.
Amazing for Collaboration - the spatial aspect allows for multiple conversations happening at the same time. New break-out rooms are created organically without any additional hassle.
Perfect for Online Workshops - organizing participants into different groups is a completely different experience when they can physically (but virtually!) travel to the places where the creative magic happens.
Virtual Parties and Socials are Fun Again - no more sitting in a boring meeting when one person monopolizes the entire conversation.
Online Team Building - flat.social opens a completely new dimension of team building activities that can be done completely remotely. From mini-games through team meditation to speed networking, activities that we have built on top of the spatial audio and video are designed to bring remote teams together. Click here to see what online team activities we have for you!
Distance Education - run the most fun classes! Whether it's a schoolbreak or a workshop, your students will be able to network and connect like they would be sitting next to each other. Read more about using flat.social for remote teaching & learning
Frequently asked questions
What are the fun features of flat.social?
From flying around to playing football and doing a frog dance, there is plenty! We built those features to make flat.social the most fun place to organise an event online. Read more features that we built.
Is there a need to install anything?
No need to install anything new. It all runs in the web browser both on desktop and mobile. Safari and Chrome are doing great, Firefox is catching up!
Do you support simultaneous screensharing?
Yep, a number of participants can screenshare at the same time. Those can be positioned next to each other or distributed in various locations around the virtual space.
How much does it cost?
Check out thepricing page to see free and pro plans available.
Can I use it as an alternative to ZOOM or Microsoft Teams?
Sure, if all you do is fun and creative meetings! (we sincerly hope so:)
Over the past 3 years we learned that while ZOOM and Microsoft teams are amazing tools to keep you productive, they're not optimized to to keep a group of people connected, engaged and happy.
Hence, flat.social was created. It does not aim to be a complete replacement - it's an addition for when the priorities switch from productivity to human interaction. It's here to bring smile and show that spontanous creative moments and connections can happen without having to travel to an office or an event venue.
How do participants move in a flat.social meeting?
Meeting attendees can use WASD keys like in multi-player games or drag themselves around with a mouse.
How do I speak to all of the guests at once?
The experience is spatial by default - only ones around will hear you. You can however use the loudspeaker feature to speak to everyone at once. It's useful if you want to make an announcement or managing a larger workshop where attendees are distributed around the room.
Is flat.social useful for remote teaching?
Absolutely! The space that you create can host virtual recess for students, classes and workshops. Each room has the functionality of an online whiteboard where all attendees can collaborate usingsticky notes, images, drawings and videos
