LuminaryVision was an exploration I did with @multikev in at attempt to make the video conferencing a better and more engaging experience for both users and the host. The result of the exploration was a series of user interviews and and a fully functional prototype which I'll focus on.
The project was build with react and firebase as main technologies and WebRTC to enable video conferencing capabilities.
Features
Checkout the video presenting all the features
Auth
Since this was just an exploration there was no need for high level of security. The auth was implemented mainly as a mechanism for identifying the participants of the the meeting and making sure the same user can't join the meeting multiple times(which was resulting in some unexpected behaviour).
Firebase made the Auth implementation very easy and made the prototype seem much more professional.
Room selection
Users are able to create a new meeting or join an existing one they've created before. When user creates a room they automatically gain host rights and can controll the meeting.
Layouts
Host have access to couple layout options, each layout change is being visible for the users. This way host decides whats the best experience for the user, whether its a discussion and its best to see everyone on the screen or its a presentation where we can have both the host and a slide on the screen.
Comments + highlight
App has a functional chat where users can engage with the meeting. Host has the ability to highlight selected messages and display them on the screen for all users to see. This motivates user to take part in the discussion.
Reactions
Users can interact with the host via reactions that would be visible to the host and other users. This can be one of the ways for the host to get an instant feedback of how the meeting is going and its also a playful experience for the participants.
Companion mobile app
App allows host to scan a QR code and easilly connect mobile device to the meeting for additional controll. Host can use the mobile version to controll the meeting layout and additional meeting properties.
Session summary
When the meeting is over host have acces to some statistics from the meeting which can help improving the material and experience for the users.
Summary
This project was a great learning experience and an entry point in to new medium which was video conferencing. It was my first time using WebRTC which was quite challenging but also rewarding once I made it work and it gave me a bit more understanding of how videoconferencing apps work and what are the challenges.
I've also improved my knowledge of Firebase which I've used before but feels like this project was actually a great usecase for it(unlike my previous project).