Project Motivation
During co-operative education experiences, all of us have worked at many diverse and large organizations. Being part of large organizations one of the things to learn is that it consists of many branches located all around the world. One of the main reasons that these organizations have become so large and have had great success is due to their ability to communicate clearly and constantly with each department of the organization, whether it is located in the same building or in another continent. Nowadays, globalization and outsourcing has become a primary part to companies' success. During our co-operative education placements, there were many instances where we had to place a meeting with a department located in a remote area in order to provide them with the milestones for the following week. Clarity of the conveyed message is important since the company might not have a meeting until the following week to check the status of the remote team. If these milestones are not conveyed to the remote team clearly, a week could be wasted by the remote team in doing something that is not part of the specified milestones. Video conferencing is the most efficient way to communicate, however it is necessary that there is great noise reduction, better audio and video signal transmission, higher visual presence of the people in the meeting and the efficiency of the meeting should increased.
Top of PageNeeds Assessment
We are looking to build a product that is an improvement over the currently available video conferencing systems. Current models typically contain a single stationary camera, an output speaker and a sound capturing system. This setup also typically uses traditional noise cancellation techniques, which also compromise the intelligibility of speech, and can cause output to sound unnatural. As the camera does not pivot, those using a system are required to move into view of the camera before talking. The need that is to be addressed is to increase the intelligibility of speech transmission and more easily focus the camera in the direction of the speaker.
Top of PageDesign Objectives
When deciding on the design, it was important to consider the overall objectives of the project to help determine the direction of the project. These objectives included:
Improved Noise Cancellation
The unit should limit the noise caused by heating systems, fans, and side conversations, without compromising the intelligibility of the speaker.
Speaker Framing
The unit should automatically adjust to show the person speaking in the video frame within a small window of time after they begin speaking.
Size and Portability
The unit should be small and portable, to reduce the footprint required in the room and movable between different conference rooms.
Minimal Distortion
The video and audio output of the unit should be clear and distortion free at all times.
Conference Room Area
The unit should function in a large range of conference room or meeting area sizes, and be usable in both open and confined environments.
Sound Source Recognition
The conference unit will determine the direction of the speaker and pivot the camera appropriately. This process should be done with minimal error in false speaker detections.
Affordability
The unit offers significant feature improvements over currently available solutions, but should still be priced competitively with existing solutions to increase the product's marketability.
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