COVID brought forth many challenges to our world, but also possibilities for many new digital
solutions. One of these was the digital platform Zoom which enabled many regular events to continue.
However, video conferences still had many disadvantages compared the the real world.
- To start a side bar or 'breakout room', the host was needed. In real life, if you want to talk to a
certain subset of the conversations participants you can easily do so.
- I found that I had many opportunities to talk virtually with my close friends, but that I didn't
find time to talk to those who were not as close.
To solve these issues, I created Orb. Orb works by requesting Google Meets from Google when users move close
to each other.Orb is a graphical user interface that allows users to easily enter
and leave video calls with other users. Orb works by requesting Google Meets from Google when users move
close to each other. They do so by controlling a 2d avatar figure that navigates rooms,
modeled with 2d art representing a classroom or cafeteria.