Building a walkie-talkie for remote work • Hacker News Board

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#51

Post by thrwaway69 » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:19 AM UTC

dsaffy wrote: post #50

thrwaway69 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds weird and awesome at the same time. Does the face move at all? Have you thought of using facerigging software? I wonder what you think of virtual remote space with advanced face rigged avatars as the future? 0] https://facerig.com

We actually have a feature in Pragli that sort of does this... https://pragli.com/blog/live-avatars-with-faceapi-js/

Yeah I saw that but it's not as fluid yet. I am thinking of 3d faces with realistic facial texture and expressions.

Btw, nice product!

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#52

Post by ollifi » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:21 AM UTC

thrwaway69 wrote: post #47

ollifi wrote: post #37

I've worked remote with a small team by having image of me on a monitor. I heard what was talked around the monitor and could push-to-talk comment back. It didn't feel distracting the way receiving a phone call while being remote felt. It's clunky enough that people didn't come up unless they had to and I still could keep up with the verbal information that was passed along with the office gossip. Some people get rea…

That sounds weird and awesome at the same time. Does the face move at all? Have you thought of using facerigging software? I wonder what you think of virtual remote space with advanced face rigged avatars as the future? 0] https://facerig.com

I phrased it wrong. It was a stream from webcam to indicate I was there. I don't think it needs to be good quality or fast frame rate though. Maybe even better if it's really pixellated. Just something to remind people. If somebody forgot to turn on the tv I had to mute the chatter in my end as well, because people very easily start having too private conversations.

Avatar could be quite fun but maybe too uncanny as well.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#53

Post by dsaffy » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:22 AM UTC

thrwaway69 wrote: post #51

dsaffy wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We actually have a feature in Pragli that sort of does this... https://pragli.com/blog/live-avatars-with-faceapi-js/

Yeah I saw that but it's not as fluid yet. I am thinking of 3d faces with realistic facial texture and expressions. Btw, nice product!

Oh yeah that would be awesome... I definitely think that's the future

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#54

Post by andyfleming » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:31 AM UTC

p_l wrote: post #2

So it removes one of the biggest benefits of remote work, ability to concentrate?

We use Pragli, and I feel like it's the opposite. Rather than a Slack back and forth to see if someone is available, setting up a video conference, connecting, etc, you can pop in and say "hey, you have a minute?". They can say "no" or "can you come back in 10?". It's like stopping by someone's desk. If they really wanted to be heads down they can be in do not disturb mode. They can still show as online (so their presence can be "felt"), but have a status that says "Focusing" and block "calls". I think it's great.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#55

Post by andyfleming » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:32 AM UTC

chrisfrantz wrote: post #6

I’m pretty sure we don’t actually need any remote specific tools. The last thing I want is random coworkers suddenly speaking in my headphones.

You can opt-out of the click to connect type of calls by setting the option in your status.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#56

Post by moltar » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:35 AM UTC

andyfleming wrote: post #54

p_l wrote: post #2

So it removes one of the biggest benefits of remote work, ability to concentrate?

We use Pragli, and I feel like it's the opposite. Rather than a Slack back and forth to see if someone is available, setting up a video conference, connecting, etc, you can pop in and say "hey, you have a minute?". They can say "no" or "can you come back in 10?". It's like stopping by someone's desk. If they really wanted to be heads down they can be in do not disturb mode. They can still show as online (so their pre…

Problem is most people are socially inclined to say yes. It’s just human nature. They are more willing to break the flow than to break the social norms.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#57

Post by torgian » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:35 AM UTC

Eh. Slack and other chat programs are just as fine, and would enable less distractions.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a good idea. As a remote worker, I would not go for this solution. I already use slack, and google calendars.

IMO I don’t need more than that. And I think your solution is convenience oriented. Nothing wrong with that of course, people pay for convenience.

This seems more suitable for companies / employees that are semi-remote. I don’t think people who are fully remote would be for this.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#58

Post by moltar » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:37 AM UTC

LeonB wrote: post #13

I have a friend who uses an always on audio for his entirely remote team and swears by it. I think it might depend on personality types. I’m willing to admit it does work for some teams even if my own initial reaction is “no way!”

Hard to say if it works or not as there’s no measurements. How do we know if a new team member would perform better or worse under a different circumstance, e.g. no real time audio?

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#59

Post by andyfleming » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:37 AM UTC

nautilus12 wrote: post #32

Its good until it becomes aware that you can use it to silently judge how productive you think other people are being, which then changes the way you work totally. Major benefiet of remote work is that you can work at a reasonable pace without being monitored constantly, and end up producing more because you are working at a pace thats more natural for creative work.

I think this is a cultural issue. You could say the same about JIRA. I've been on teams that have used it to closely track developer productivity and micromanage. In contrast, I've been on healthier teams that just use it how it works best for them.

Re: Building a walkie-talkie for remote work

#60

Post by errantmind » Fri, Jan 24, 2020, 4:56 AM UTC

ironmagma wrote: post #49

errantmind wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, ignoring someone stopping by your desk is very different from not answering the phone. A phone call doesn't have the same degree of immediacy nor the same expectations of a response

How is a phone call not the highest form of immediacy? Short of an actual pager event implying downtime and process, what could be higher priority to someone working out of office?

A voicemail. I frequently get calls, some of it may be a high priority, some of it not, no way to know, but I am not going to answer every call. If someone goes through the effort of leaving a voicemail I will interrupt my work and listen to it and decide whether or not it is more important than what I am currently doing.

I think it really depends on related context though. If I am working in an operational capacity then I may need to answer the phone every time it rings. If I am doing project work requiring a great degree of creative problem solving I am going to block off my calendar most of the day and prioritize a lack of distraction. My phone will be on "do not disturb" and I won't be looking at it. Impatience and interruption are the killers of creativity.