Around is leading us into a new era with less distraction and more productivity.
We’re entering a brand new era of work. It’s becoming crucial to work and collaborate with our coworkers– but while in the isolation of our homes. We can’t grab a conference room to work across our teams anymore. Video conferencing is the next best thing- and one of the only options. It definitely is a game-changing tool to help us get through this pandemic, but it has a long way to go. Thankfully, a solution is arriving.
The problem: distraction.
Most of us remember when the BBC dad inadvertently became a viral star in 2017 when his two children barged into a live interview. It was absolutely adorable.
But some meetings call for quiet, focused environments. And it’s not easy to do that with two dogs barking at your doorbell ringing right in the middle of a meeting.
There are also visual distractions that can take place while conferencing, creating a visual disruption on-screen when a user is trying to take notes or present.
The solution: Around: the quick, high-impact video calls for a new era of work
Dominik Zane is the Maker and CEO of Around, primarily a hard tech company focused on refining video calls. Zane is a veteran entrepreneur, having already even sold a company to GoDaddy. Before selling, Zane served as a director of management, where he led a remote team including employees living as far away as New Zealand.
He realized getting great audio and video is a science- a science that he believes he can perfect. “So,” he continues, “we went heads down for 2 years and wrote all the audio and video greatness ourselves.”
Zane says Around features “quick, high-impact calls you can use with anyone by just sharing a link, or firing it up directly from Slack. No team setup required and no ‘virtual taps on your shoulder.’” Around “respects your time and privacy, and that’s why we’ve built all the technology behind it to make it even less distracting than any other video calling products on the market,” says Zane.
There are three main types of distractions that Around set out to solve: physical distractions, visual distractions, and auditory distractions.
How does Around solve visual distractions? Via AI-based camera framing features. This tool works to:
- Find your face even as you move, cropping out clutter and other background distractions. No more worrying whether you put the laundry away!
- Include optimal filters that normalize color tones to set a ‘vibe’ – nobody ever has to feel self-conscious about their hair, skin, or feel vampire-awkward when connecting at night due to differences in time zones.
How does Around solve auditory distractions? Via AI-based auto-mute. This tool works to:
- Auto-mute allows Around to recognize all common noises like sirens, barking dogs, washing machines, kitchen activity, laptop fans and applies AI-based filtering to suppress them while prioritizing human voice.
- Multiple laptops, all mics on, no echo.
- Make any place your ideal meeting space.
The developers have clearly been keeping the pulse of the digital landscape to quickly adapt to future needs while calibrating it for a fluid experience.
Dominic Zane shared the following information on ProductHunt:
We now have close to 10,000 Early Access signups in the first 48 hours since launching. Thank you for being interested in what we’ve built and we’ll be processing invites in batches so you can enjoy Around with us soon.
Learn more about Around on their website, and stay in the know of all things tech with us here at StarterNoise.
