Hybrid meetings are now a real and permanent way of working. While video conferencing has expanded remote capabilities, it has also revealed the need for enhancements to enable true collaboration: in-person participants need better ways to engage with remote participants; and conversation must flow more naturally between all participants, so no one feels like a spectator.

Scalable for any sized room, the new Crestron Sightline Experience solves these challenges with a complete, integrated ecosystem that delivers meeting equity, where resources are distributed based on the specific needs of every participant. Sightline incorporates a multi-camera, automated switching system — literally, an AI program that follows who’s speaking at a given moment – and “cuts” to that individual, as opposed to the traditional single camera panning back and forth.

The remote experience

Sightline technology tracks a speaker’s voice and automatically frames that individual on-screen, giving the remote worker a look that’s not dissimilar from the layout one finds when every participant is virtual. It’s quite literally a close-up of the speakers, revealing all those critical nonverbal cues and providing the best available audio in that hybrid situation.

The in-person experience

The other half of the equation is the viewpoint of the in-person participants when they’re interacting with remote participants. A Sightline room incorporates multiple displays, synced together, so remote participants are always in line of sight, which eliminates confusion over where to look. This helps increase engagement and decrease “screen fatigue.”