Crestron has announced updates to its Automate VX multi-camera speaker tracking solution to enhance its meeting immersion.
“We continue to invest in leveraging Visual AI auto-framing and presenter tracking to deliver the most compelling meeting room experience on the market so that participants can contribute and engage with their peers without interruptions,”
Crestron’s EVP of Global Marketing, Brad Hintze, said.
This new update of Automate VX will enable the cameras to capture a speaker from multiple perspectives depending on where they are looking.
Examining Automate VX
Frost and Sullivan forecasts that by 2029, one in six medium and large-sized rooms will have a multi-camera solution.
This is because multi-cameras can immerse remote viewers in a meeting in a more dynamic way by changing the camera based on who is speaking, critical for meetings spread out over large spaces.
The latest Automate VX update aims to address these with new features such as Visual AI Direction, which enables cameras to switch to capture speakers based on the angles of their face, showing the clearest view of an active speaker’s face.
In-person attendees are freed up to act naturally to glance around the room to content on the displays or other attendees in the room without sacrificing engagement of online attendees.
Leveraging edge AI, the Visual AI Direction feature understands the angle someone is facing to switch from one camera to another while avoiding less optimal shots of the side or back of someone’s head.
By leveraging multiple cameras around a room, Automate VX eliminates reliance on static, fixed single-camera systems.
“By introducing Visual AI Direction technology, we create a dynamic experience where cameras are automatically adjusted and switch flawlessly in real-time, to ensure speakers are highlighted at the right moment and at the right angle for virtual participants,” Hintze said.
Automate VX also provides simple drag-and-drop software tools to enable rooms to be configured ahead of time.
Equally, the latest update enables the addition of furniture to the Intelligent Video Room Designer software, with pieces able to be moved around the layout as needed to make space planning more efficient and accurate before finalizing designs.
Another new feature, Breadcrumbs, is being introduced to target faster deployments and fine-tuning of the system to accommodate specific acoustics within a space.
This feature collects the past 100 audio pickups from the room’s microphones to allow IT managers to monitor usage and adjust audio pickup locations to yield the best results for room usage and proper switching.
AI Enhancing the Physical Meeting Room
AI is increasingly being adopted to enhance meetings.
But as much as it is changing the software side of things, manufacturers are finding ways to build it so it enhances the physical meeting space too.
For instance, AudioCodes earlier this year released Intelligent Meeting Room, which leverages generative AI to create and share meeting summaries automatically and allows participants present in the room to concentrate on discussions.
Equally, ClearOne released its UNITE 260N Pro, which offers AI-enabled smart face-tracking technology to ensure presenters remain consistently in focus, even when moving dynamically within meeting spaces or lecture halls.
