Zoom ballet

For more than a year our day to day reality consisted of videoconferencing. Our work life and much of our personal encounters happened in Zoom or Teams sessions. Some of us tried to make the best of it, experimenting with virtual backgrounds or AR facefilter effects. Sometimes, everyone started activating new filters every second. But instead of bringing a sense of togetherness, the feeling that gave was often one of being isolated, all enjoying our filter finds individually.

"Zoom ballet" is different, in many ways. It uses some of the filter functionality, but not to enhance people with fluffy bunny ears, which is fun for just a few seconds. Zoom ballet is based on a very minimalistic effect, just the movement of the screen.

Another aspect of Zoom ballet which empowers the experience is the synchronization. Thanks to a timer script, all movements of all people in one Zoom session are happening in sync. This 'facefilter' effect isn't about an individual show-off but it's a collective experience.

An adrenaline pumping experience too! Because after spending a year being a digital presence appearing in a virtual grid-organised world of little screens, a jumpy window almost feels like a physical experience. And a bit of adrenaline is what we might need, if this temporary reality is here to stay for a little longer.


How to experience "Zoom Ballet"?


1) Schedule a date/time to experience this with multiple people together

2) Join the Zoom session, which will be launched by one of you

3) Before joining, follow these steps to prepare the "Ballet" filter-effect:

  • install the "Snap Camera" program on your computer/laptop
  • copy/paste the Snapchat link (the one below) into the 'search' field of the Snap Camera program.
  • Then set 'Snap camera' as videosource in Zoom software.

link:

https://www.snapchat.com/unlock/?type=SNAPCODE&uuid=e8132d25b65f4558b09346840f49aa73&metadata=01

(Don't click this link above, but right-click it to copy/paste into Snap Camera search-field)