How to Collaborate on Collaboration
By Wayne Cavadi ( Systems Contractor News )
Canon and Syracuse University work together to develop AMLOS software for innovative educational experiences.
Syracuse University is using Canon’s AMLOS technology to teach cinematography to in-person and remote students. (Image credit: Leigh Vo)
Milton Santiago, assistant professor of visual communications at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, is using Canon’s innovative Activate My Line of Sight (AMLOS) technology to bring an all-new hybrid experience to in-class and remote students. Since Santiago put the software to use in Fall 2022, he has continued to find new ways to use AMLOS to better engage his students across the globe.
And so does Canon. Since showcasing the AMLOS software at the 2022 NAB Show, Canon's Thomas Cusanelli, senior specialist, product marketing, and Kohei Maeda, advisor, new business development, have worked closely with Santiago to enhance both the student experience and Canon’s software.
As with many innovations currently in the hybrid world, AMLOS was born during the pandemic. The concept was a new way to visualize the workplace and bring new software to Canon’s already renowned hardware portfolio. What originated as a concept in Summer 2020 quickly evolved, as Canon looked ahead to what the hybrid world—a term still yet undefined in 2020—would look like, especially in instances like creative brainstorming sessions when people couldn’t be together.
“We thought a hybrid brainstorm session is an area we can help improve,” Maeda explained of AMLOS’ early beginnings. “We utilized a 4K PTZ camera not originally meant for the meeting room—it is the live streaming standard, more for house of worship or sporting events, with 4K pan-tilt-zoom features. We leveraged these features to meeting spaces and then developed the software to support the creative equivalent. And that's how we started.”
An Ongoing Conversation
With AMLOS, a single Canon PTZ camera creates multiple video streams, allowing all participants to not only see what’s happening, but interact with the customizable user interface to see various live streams, screen captures, and even whiteboards. Any remote user can have different boxes on their screen side by side.
From inside the AMLOS room, hand gestures signal the camera to highlight an object or an area in the room while providing a 4K capture of the area. In Santiago’s case, for his lighting and lensing class, it allows him to show students a close-up view of a camera while writing notes on a whiteboard about that camera—with the freedom to move around the classroom space while students follow the conversation.
Canon's initial NAB experimental showcase positioned AMLOS for meeting spaces. But when Maeda and Cusanelli met Santiago, it sparked a conversation that lasted several months, focused on the possibilities of AMLOS in the classroom.
Milton had so many different ideas on how to use it with different projects at Syracuse, in classrooms, different workshops," Cusanelli recalled, "and we were just really excited to think about all the different ways that we could see AMLOS being used in this type of educational setting. I think a light bulb went off for all of us, and we wound up bringing our first set of AMLOS to Syracuse.”
With AMLOS, a single Canon CR-N300 4K PTZ camera can create multiple video streams. (Image credit: Canon)
The light bulb was just the start. Cusanelli and Maeda attended one of Santiago’s classes and observed what worked and didn’t work. Santiago would present new ideas to the AMLOS team—and they listened. For example, the AMLOS team enhanced the software,
once solely designed for a PTZ camera, to allow for a feed from a Canon cinema camera to also be part of the presentation.
I feel like that really gave us a lot to work with, and now we're exploring how we can add on top of that, too, like bringing in video feeds from other devices like mixed-reality goggles or headsets,” Cusanelli said. “It's working together and bouncing those ideas off each other that really gave us a lot of opportunity to just enhance AMLOS in all different kinds of ways.”
“It's very rare that we get an opportunity to deal directly with a vendor or a software programmer and have modifications made and be able to pitch ideas,” Santiago said. “I think what has been awesome about this collaboration is that the AMLOS team has listened to what it is I'm trying to get accomplished and what I value as the core learning objectives. And we've had very productive back and forth that's served as a springboard for something new.”
Outside-the-Box Innovation
While using the solution presented a learning curve for students, there was something else Santiago had to master: the hand gestures. “The hand gesture, at first, did not come natural to me,” Santiago said, laughing. “It was a little bit of a learning process for me to think about my gesticulation and how that might impact the lesson flow.”
Naturally, Canon listened. “What they were kind enough to do,” Santiago continued, “is to make a modification where I could have a clicker remote. I would get in the general area of what I wanted to highlight, and I would hit this clicker.”
The "clicker" enhancement is also forward thinking in an age where accessibility is so important to every technological design. Thanks to Santiago’s learning curve, AMLOS now has options for those who may not be able to hand gesture.
Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time happens to work out. Santiago’s visit to Canon's NAB booth has certainly shown that to be true. The collaboration continues—and with how responsive Canon is to Santiago’s feedback, it seems like they are just scratching the surface on what AMLOS can do in higher education classrooms.
“AMLOS has unlocked new levels of interactivity in the classroom and new ways for me to make connections for students in terms of their analysis of images, lensing, and lighting at a much faster pace,” Santiago explained. “I've spent some time researching why this seems to work. And there's a lot out there about the value of presenting information side by side. There's a lot out there about cognitive load and how much information we can process before it starts to be overwhelming. There's a lot of research around interactivity and how giving students agency over how they're processing the information will allow them to really retain it.
"So, we have started exploring all the possibilities of how, at least within my particular discipline of cinematography, how giving students the ability to the manipulate images and information in real time without being dependent on the instructor, how that changes the dynamic of their learning experience.”
The "clicker" enhancement is also forward thinking in an age where accessibility is so important to every technological design. Thanks to Santiago’s learning curve, AMLOS now has options for those who may not be able to hand gesture.
Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time happens to work out. Santiago’s visit to Canon's NAB booth has certainly shown that to be true. The collaboration continues—and with how responsive Canon is to Santiago’s feedback, it seems like they are just scratching the surface on what AMLOS can do in higher education classrooms.
“AMLOS has unlocked new levels of interactivity in the classroom and new ways for me to make connections for students in terms of their analysis of images, lensing, and lighting at a much faster pace,” Santiago explained. “I've spent some time researching why this seems to work. And there's a lot out there about the value of presenting information side by side. There's a lot out there about cognitive load and how much information we can process before it starts to be overwhelming. There's a lot of research around interactivity and how giving students agency over how they're processing the information will allow them to really retain it.
"So, we have started exploring all the possibilities of how, at least within my particular discipline of cinematography, how giving students the ability to the manipulate images and information in real time without being dependent on the instructor, how that changes the dynamic of their learning experience.”