Quick, next-gen video calls. Around combines inventions in audio technology & a fresh perspective on video UI. Introducing major inventions in signal processing, AI-based background noise filtering, voice proximity detection, and UX.
This is an amazing antidote to being stuck inside a rectangle and unable to collaborate. Zoom is good but Around is essential for actually doing work like you are sitting next to someone.
Looks really great. Would love to use this to do a webinar where team members could join and show up on the screen, and viewers could go to a link and view what is going on, and optionally join a chat to ask questions. The non-profit I'm running is trying to do two webinars a week during this time, and having a way to show the people talking while allowing a large group of people to interact, would be awesome.
Alexis Ohanian here from Initialized Capital! We've invested in Around in 2018 when it was still in stealth. I'll let Dominik, the Maker (CEO) tell the story below :)
@dominikbalogh -- looks like you guys are deep into WebAssembly, no?
If you need some help on that front, check out Superpowered Web Audio JavaScript and WebAssembly SDK
https://superpowered.com/js-wasm...
In meantime, I cannot wait to get my hands on the beta invite link. Thanks.
One of the worst things about video conferencing is the failure to create a persistent or ambient connection. Sometimes you just need to have someone feel like they're with you for a while without really saying anything or disturbing you. This looks like it might really help with that, I'm looking forward to trying it!
I've reviewed 20+ video collaboration tools over the last 2 weeks focused on finding interactive solutions that can truly push the idea of innovative, collaborative and high quality. Looking forward to getting access! As what I see so far I'm excited.
Could not be more excited about this. I work across several remote teams and prior to the last two weeks have been frustrated on a daily basis with Zoom, Hangouts, etc. That frustration has obviously intensified over the last two weeks.
@dominikbalogh just tell me what I have to do to get to the top of the list :)
It's always super frustrating when a product 'launches' on here, but you can't access it, see a demo, or do anything other than give your email address. Would love it if PH required you to actually have a usable product to launch on here!
@robjbye Hi Robert, I totally feel you and share your frustration! I'd like to explain why we send invites in batches.
Real-time video is very demanding on the infrastructure and bandwidth. Users only give products like ours one chance -- it has to work stable and smooth. To make sure that we "flatten the curve" and everyone is getting the best possible experience, we're bringing in users at a sustainable pace while monitoring our infrastructure.
Thank you for your understanding and if you share your email address with me (you can Tweet my DMs), I'll try to make sure you get priority access. Stay tuned, coming soon :)
@dominikbalogh Hey Dominik, I totally understand it's important to have a progressive rollout, but it's still frustrating as people want to use and try things out at launch. Yac Chat seemed to have had a progressive rollout over the last few months, so their launch today is when everyone gets to try it without being on a wait list. That method feels a lot more attractive to me.
@robjbye Fair point! We're in a progressive rollout period right now and will be prioritizing access to the PH community. If you share your sign-up email address we'll get back to you ASAP.
@dominikbalogh Agreed with @robjbye plus with so much people working from home now, it's the best time to onboard users as they might use it daily, thus forming a new habit over existing tools.
Me and my team are a good example. Usually we don't work remote and Slack is enough. Now that we work in remote every day, we feel the need for a tool like yours.