The Record - Issue 21: Summer 2021

85 “Our mission was to build a next-generation architecture which anticipates these needs and fulfil them in a simple and elegant way.” AI is a big part of how Khan and his team are delivering this. “One of our past innovations was to adjust the field of view of the camera with intelligent zoom,” he explains. “So, if you don’t need the 180 degrees because you are alone, the camera will detect where you are and frame you. “We wanted to build on this so worked with movie makers and directors and asked them about the psychology of human perception and how people absorb information. So, for exam- ple, if two people are sat next to each other on camera, other solutions would focus on the person speaking and potentially cut the other person out, or flip between the speakers, which can be annoying.” Jabra combined its beamforming technology and precise audio detection with facial recogni- tion to understand who is speaking and present that to other members of the conversation. “It may not seem like a big deal, but your brain registers all the extra information and it can become distracting,” says Khan. “We funda- mentally believe that powerful edge intelligence enables superb experiences. We are working hand-in-glove with the leading providers such as Microsoft because they really value this incredi- bly powerful AI being built into a device.” Jabra’s products can improve business processes by facilitating more effective communication, preventing the fatigue caused by problematic conferencing solutions and enhancing collabora- tion among users. But Khan believes his solutions could also have an important place in education. “Panacast 20 is a more mobile version of Panacast 50 with a 105-degree field of view,” says Khan. The AI involved in Panacast 20 can offer light optimisation, which automatically adjusts the lighting around the speaker; intelligent zoom, which keeps the speaker centred as they move; and picture-in-picture, which can focus on something other than speaker, while still captur- ing them in a smaller image. “Over the last year, many educators have been using our products and they love that they are untethered,” says Khan. “Great teachers are almost dramatic, they use voice, intonation, movement, gestures, pacing, all kinds of things to kind of hold our attention. With our device, they can continue doing all this while teaching remotely.”