Due to the pandemic and the need for social distancing which resulted in virtual classes, conferences, and meetings, video conference platforms have prospered in the past year. Video calling applications continue to develop new functionality to improve user experience. Zoom, the video chatting network, enables a tool to organise meetings with hosts for up to 25 members in one simulated context.
The tool, called interactive views, is designed to increase the engagement and collaboration of Zoom meetings. The meetings and webinars should use Zoom’s immersive image as the speaker or gallery image can be selected.
Zoom states that if hosts allow a immersive view they are able to put participants in a virtual scene of their choice either automatically or manually. Hosts can even transfer participants around the scene effortlessly and also re-dimension the picture of a participant for a natural experience. If more than 25 participants take part, they will be seen on top of the scene on a thumbnail strip. Zoom notes users are still free to host participants without limitation and will still have their meeting space open. If there are a sufficient number of people, users can also use the gallery view.
Users can zoom in at a higher level than version 5.6.3 to see participants in the immersive view environments. Zoom desktop and smartphone Applications that do not allow Immersive Vision, and instead with a plain black screen, can appear to see only gallery viewers or speaker view. Others at the meeting still view with their original backgrounds these unfamiliar people in the immersive view scene.
Hosts may modify the scene or return to the gallery or speaker at all times. Zoom has created a number of scenes to launch users and also offers users the option of uploading their own. Hosts may also use their own footage to display the participants in their own simulated background as an immersive scene.
To enable the immersive view on Zoom:
— Sign in to the Zoom web portal
–Go to the navigation menu.
— Click Account Management then Account Settings.
— In the Meeting tab under the In Meeting (Advanced) section, find the Immersive View option and verify that the setting is enabled.
Hosts should enable the settings if it is disabled, and choose to turn the toggle on in case it is off and verify the change. They can also make this setting mandatory for all users by clicking on the lock icon. The steps remain the same for a group as well, except that hosts will have to go to the navigation menu > click on user management > group management > name of the group. Hosts can then verify the group by enabling the settings.