QSC and Sennheiser: The next generation of video conferences

Achieving More Together

Whether in a professional or a private environment, video conferences have long been a part of our everyday life. And now more so than ever. They allow us to connect with colleagues, friends, or family in different locations. However, they do not completely substitute face-to-face meetings. Whether this be in terms of content or emotionally, things can quickly become lost in dialogue for any number of reasons of which we are all more or less aware. For example, this could be due to a poor internet connection or the lack of technical equipment.

What can we do to improve the video conferencing experience?

We asked ourselves this question together with QSC and rethought how we could create a lifelike conference experience with the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphone (TCC 2) and the QSC Q-SYS Ecosystem. Imagine the following situation: There is a video call with numerous people. The presenters are standing in the meeting room and the audience, i.e., the public, is connected from anywhere in the world. There are several speakers who move around the room freely, which means they go out of shot every so often. The meeting lasts for several hours and the topic is discussed in-depth. After the first hour, the meeting participants who have been connected will notice the strain on their eyes and the constantly changing volume level will cause them discomfort. The situation also quickly becomes uncomfortable for the presenters in the room, since they either have to stay seated in their chair to remain on screen, or they have to move very unnaturally up and down within a small radius in front of the camera. This is exactly where we come in. With microphone-based camera control we present an innovative, interactive, and automated solution in which the camera follows the microphone signal. The focus is thus directed towards the actively speaking participant, which supports natural human dialogue and increases the dynamic interaction of the group as well as general engagement. The hearing and visual fatigue mentioned in the example above are significantly reduced and the presenter has total freedom to move around the room.

Remain in control

Are you wondering how it works? It’s very easy. Whereas video-based systems rely on the person to be "tracked" in the image and recognized there, the automatic 360° beamforming of the TeamConnect Ceiling 2 ceiling microphone determines in real time from which direction the person is speaking, even if the speaker is not in the camera image. Thanks to its patented automatic dynamic beamforming technology, the TCC 2 is already a leader in audio technology in the corporate sector for conference rooms. With its new TruVoicelift feature and extended zone control, it is also the most innovative solution for room-based audio for classrooms, lecture halls, boardrooms, and much more.

The system is based exclusively on two team players – the microphone and the camera – and their connection to each other. It does not recognize faces or other physical features that could be used to identify participants. No personal data is therefore collected, and you remain fully in control of the meeting - to the delight of your data protection officer, company-internal safety regulations and members of the works council.

New plug-in for the TeamConnect Ceiling 2

In order to make the application as user-friendly as possible, QSC has simplified the configuration and administration for the TCC 2 with the help of a new plug-in for its Q-SYS ecosystem. For example, it is now possible to monitor the audio level and display the vertical and horizontal angles of the speaking person in real time. The speed of the camera i.e., how it should react to which verbal contributions, can be comfortably and individually adjusted by the user.

Would you like to find out more about the subject of “microphone-based camera control”? Then please visit our website: www.sennheiser.com/global-alliances-qsc