Auto Mute Video Calls using Head Rotation
30 Mar 2019When you look away from your screen during a conference call, it’s probably because someone interrupted you, or you need to have a sidebar. It can be anywhere from distracting to embarrassing to have these interactions get broadcast to your meeting room. Microsoft recently released a background blurring feature for these situations:
This weekend I wrote some code with a similar goal. It disables your video in a conference call when you turn away from the screen. It does that by connecting to Bose AR wearable devices – in the demo my Bose Frames – to tell what direction your head is turning. Then it disables the camera if you’re looking away.
The bookmarklet connects using the Web Bluetooth API, via a JavaScript port of the Bose AR SDK. I made it for fun and to learn more about spatial audio and audio AR. If you want to try it out: in Google Chrome, drag this link to your bookmarks bar:
Then open a meeting in the Zoom.us web client, and click the bookmark to load the code. Then, when you turn on the camera, you’ll get a prompt to connect your Bose Frames or QC35 II headphones.