
Show HN: Video conferencing web app with positioned audio - calchris42
https://inthelocus.com
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mohamedattahri
Haven't tested the product yet, but here are two things I can tell you before
I do:

\- Love the name, I find it clever (location, locution, pocus) and easy to
remember

\- Website is a 4/10: look is not very appealing, does a poor job putting your
main feature forward.

Good luck!

~~~
calchris42
Thanks for the feedback!

Btw. Locus is "room" in latin. Our goal is to make conferencing feel more like
being together in a room.

We do recognize that the design and messaging can be crisper. We are a team of
2 at the moment.

The service is up and running well. Now we're looking for feedback on whethe
the problems we're going after resonate as important.

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ncamilleri90
I've used the product a few times and I love it. Super easy to create/ join a
room and the image and sound are really clear.

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zamfi
Other co-founder here. We built this out of frustration with other video
conferencing solutions, and pretty much use it exclusively now.

Here's some background on our motivations:

Audio & video conferencing have improved a lot in the last few years,
especially when it comes to voice and picture quality, but most conferencing
still feels stiff. People go into "presentation mode", and it's much less
interactive than an in-person meeting, especially if you’re brainstorming, or
having a group discussion or a casual catch-up.

We're building a tool to make freeform meetings more comfortable, more
possible, more useful. We call it Locus.

In Locus, conversation takes place around a room or other natural space. And
we’ve improved the audio so that you hear people talking from where you see
them (like in real life). Accidental interruptions no longer destroy
conversation flow, and you can tell who’s talking even if faces aren’t
visible. Say goodbye to the typical distracting, hyperactive mode of
conferencing, where faces move around every time someone new starts talking.
Locus rooms are also easy to create and share: just copy the link from your
browser. And when you join a room, we verify your audio and video are working,
so you can skip the “can you hear me?” ballet.

We'd like to go even further. There are so many ways to make Locus better for
everyone, and in some cases better than being in-person. For example, wouldn't
it be nice to know who's looking at you? Wouldn't it be nice to present a
polished face even if you just woke up?

Also nice: sharing a virtual document everyone can see and draw on. Perhaps
using a tablet or phone that lets you use your hands to draw and share a quick
sketch? And don’t you want to see people's reactions -- or what they're
looking at -- when you share your screen?

Years of working on the hard problems of transmitting voice and video have
paid off. Now it’s time to work on new hard problems, to create a conferencing
app that works with you to make better meetings. Our long-term vision is to
increase the productivity of real-time remote collaboration through more
natural meetings, and Locus is a first step. Try it and let us know if you
like it and use it -- or if you don't, what's missing?

------
calchris42
Would love any thoughts. Agree that conferencing products are all the same and
can use improvement? Or are you happy with your current experience?

For more on our motivation for creating Locus:
[https://medium.com/@chris_82106/https-medium-com-
chris-82106...](https://medium.com/@chris_82106/https-medium-com-
chris-82106-its-2016-why-is-video-conferencing-still-
terrible-1b8802032aae#.eoopg5z0b)

