I'm surprised so many people are allowed to use video conferencing platforms that aren't Zoom/Slack/Teams.
Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
21–30 of 68 posts
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#22Looks like a very fun stack!
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#23This seems to be a take on Gather.town with more realistic graphics. My team has been using Gather for almost a year now, so I'll give it a shot.
How does your team use it and how would you rate it? My CEO wanted to introduce Gather with the idea that everyone would be in it working all day. He wanted to be able to "stroll by" whenever to see what people are up to. The team unanimous voted against this so we didn't get it.
Not who you asked but as a data point.
I worked at an org ($30B) and it was used for happy hours (as in drinking if you wanted) in the couple of related teams. Since we've been working from home since 2020. It worked alright, some groups would form but it's like real life, if you're more social more 'gather' around you.
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#24Strange. I wanted to show app formerly called Caala to which I contributed but it disappeared from github. I wonder if this is because it became this. Also - which JS library do you use to voice chat and video calls? I wanted to implement voice chat myself. EDIT: it was just archived - https://github.com/capnmidnight/Calla
Ah yes, flat.social has nothing to do with Calla but thanks for mentioning it, I'll have a look!
As per the JS library for audio/video - I have used Mediasoup.
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#25One thing these types of tools also need to consider is online safety. I've seen others implement things like personal boundaries, hiding from others, and avoiding being boxed in by others. Just to name a few. I couldn't see anythig on your website that addresses any of these sorts of concerns?
Probably best to outline a specific threat model. What is the danger, which the tools you mentioned would make safer?
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#26How is it different from InSpace? https://inspace.chat/ What’s the future revenue model? How expensive are the servers?
It seems from the website that InSpace is a proximity based chat app too so this aspect might be similar. I don't really see a demo there so hard for me to assess the exact differences! I'm experimenting with the revenue model right now, would be happy to hear any input on the current pricing I set out. As per the servers cost - it's directly correlated to the usage. It runs audio, video and physics on the backend so…
Any reason for doing audio and video work on the backend rather than adopting the (much easier to scale) SFU model and just forwarding packets? Similarly for the physics, seems like doing that work frontend would scale much better.
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#27One thing these types of tools also need to consider is online safety. I've seen others implement things like personal boundaries, hiding from others, and avoiding being boxed in by others. Just to name a few. I couldn't see anythig on your website that addresses any of these sorts of concerns?
Hey!
Please mind that the demo room is an open space to show off the features. Once you create your own flat, you are able to edit moderators, guest list, allowed email domains, banned list and keep the flat open and closed whenever you want. There is also ability to kick & ban.
> I've seen others implement things like personal boundaries, hiding from others, and avoiding being boxed in by others.
I find this very interesting. After all, it's a space governed by a physics engine which can potentially bring another dimension of annoying things that one can do. In flat.social you can push other people, magnetise yourself to others and so on.
Nevertheless, users do not move with keyboard only - you can also move by "flying" yourself around with a mouse or a drag event. If you want to remain static, you can anchor yourself to a spot on the map and no one will be able to box you into a corner or to disturb a conversation by pushing around.
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#28One thing these types of tools also need to consider is online safety. I've seen others implement things like personal boundaries, hiding from others, and avoiding being boxed in by others. Just to name a few. I couldn't see anythig on your website that addresses any of these sorts of concerns?
Probably best to outline a specific threat model. What is the danger, which the tools you mentioned would make safer?
I could outline one for me, that I'd look for, but I was asking more about what the authors of the tool had thought about and catered for.
The dangers are all too real with online social spaces; douchebaggery, perving and harassment. The examples I gave are common mitigations (e.g. movement algos that prevent someone being boxed in to a corner can provide a way for somone to escape an uncomfortable interaction - without it, they can be stuck) already implemented by similar platforms.
Look up any metaverse review and they're full of this shitty behaviour. If spaces don't think about this aspect, then those that are targetted will just not come back.
If there's one thing builders of social platforms should have learned from the last decade it's that they can't ignore the downsides of how their tools are going to be used.
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#29One thing these types of tools also need to consider is online safety. I've seen others implement things like personal boundaries, hiding from others, and avoiding being boxed in by others. Just to name a few. I couldn't see anythig on your website that addresses any of these sorts of concerns?
Hey! Please mind that the demo room is an open space to show off the features. Once you create your own flat, you are able to edit moderators, guest list, allowed email domains, banned list and keep the flat open and closed whenever you want. There is also ability to kick & ban. > I've seen others implement things like personal boundaries, hiding from others, and avoiding being boxed in by others. I find this very in…
Or, presumably, people could box you in by anchoring themselves around you? Similarly, I give it 5 mins before magnetising to others makes people uncomfortable, or is used for downright harassment.
Ask any woman what it's like to go to a tech conference, and then try to guess if they would be comfortable using a tool like yours as it currently stands.
Re: Show HN: I built a fun video meeting app with 2D physics and proximity chat
#30See also https://sprout.place