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Indiana Wesleyan University Support Knowledge Base

Meeting Owl

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The Meeting Owl is a video conferencing tool, shaped like an Owl. It even hoots when it is powered on!

The Meeting Owl is a video conferencing solution that simplifies collaboration meetings, interviews, huddle rooms, and small classes. It is a USB device providing both audio and video for a Zoom or Skype meeting.

Meeting Owl on Laptop

Features

  
Connecting cables AC power; and USB 2.0 (type A connection)
Functions Microphone array, Speakers, 360-degree video camera
Volume control options Mute; Volume Up (+); Volume Down (-), located near the base of the Meeting Owl. A Red LED will indicate a Muted state.
Camera resolution 720p
Compatibility Works with Windows and Mac and Chromebooks

 

Considerations

The Meeting Owl is best suited for groups of 2 to 8 people, although it may still work with larger groups.

For best results, keep all participants in the room within 12 feet of the Meeting Owl.

Position the Meeting Owl in a location where all of the participants will be looking toward the Owl while they conduct the class or meeting. For instance, place the Meeting Owl near the display (like a TV, laptop screen, or projection screen), where the image of the video conferencing participants will be viewed by the people in the room.

The image created by the spherical camera lens, is a wide horizontal view of the entire room and all of the people in the room, placed like a banner at the top of your display. Additionally, a single, double, or triple close up view of the participants who are speaking or have most recently spoken, fills up the remaining portion of the screen. The eight microphones determine who is speaking, and the camera angle  shows the view of the direction from which that spoken sound originates.

From within a Zoom meeting's settings, you may select any or all of the following features:

  1. Camera
  2. Microphone
  3. Speakers
One potential negative aspect of the Owl's Auto-Focus feature, is that you may not be able to hide from the camera view if you sneeze, cough, or make other involuntary noises. One possible solution to this can be found in the Meeting Owl App. The app can be used for additional features, such as the ability to lock the view of one speaker during a presentation.