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Alexis Ohanian

Around - Next-gen video calls for a new era of work

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Quick, next-gen video calls. Around combines inventions in audio technology & a fresh perspective on video UI. Introducing major inventions in signal processing, AI-based background noise filtering, voice proximity detection, and UX.

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Robert Bye
Top Product
It's always super frustrating when a product 'launches' on here, but you can't access it, see a demo, or do anything other than give your email address. Would love it if PH required you to actually have a usable product to launch on here!
Dominik Zane
Maker
@robjbye Hi Robert, I totally feel you and share your frustration! I'd like to explain why we send invites in batches. Real-time video is very demanding on the infrastructure and bandwidth. Users only give products like ours one chance -- it has to work stable and smooth. To make sure that we "flatten the curve" and everyone is getting the best possible experience, we're bringing in users at a sustainable pace while monitoring our infrastructure. Thank you for your understanding and if you share your email address with me (you can Tweet my DMs), I'll try to make sure you get priority access. Stay tuned, coming soon :)
Robert Bye
Top Product
@dominikbalogh Hey Dominik, I totally understand it's important to have a progressive rollout, but it's still frustrating as people want to use and try things out at launch. Yac Chat seemed to have had a progressive rollout over the last few months, so their launch today is when everyone gets to try it without being on a wait list. That method feels a lot more attractive to me.
Dominik Zane
Maker
@robjbye Fair point! We're in a progressive rollout period right now and will be prioritizing access to the PH community. If you share your sign-up email address we'll get back to you ASAP.
Samuel Roy
@dominikbalogh Agreed with @robjbye plus with so much people working from home now, it's the best time to onboard users as they might use it daily, thus forming a new habit over existing tools. Me and my team are a good example. Usually we don't work remote and Slack is enough. Now that we work in remote every day, we feel the need for a tool like yours.
(((B.L. Ochman)))
@dominikbalogh here's my signup email BL@whatsnextonline.com Your DMs don't seem to be open on Twitter.
Dominik Zane
Maker
Hello ProductHunt! UPDATE: Feel free to send me a DM on Twitter to prioritize your Early Access! PH community will receive invites with priority. Dominik here, the Maker and CEO of Around: quick, high-impact calls you can use with anyone by just sharing a link, or firing it up directly from Slack. No team setup required and no "virtual taps on your shoulder". Around respects your time and privacy, and that's why we've built all the technology behind it -- to make it even less distracting than any other video calling products on the market. Around is primarily a hard tech company -- great audio and video is a real science, and off-the-shelf services and libraries are far from great. So we went heads down for 2 years and wrote all the audio and video greatness ourselves. Certainly, a smaller video crop is not a new idea -- it's the lengths we've gone to make small video actually amazing. AI-based face-tracking keeps faces properly cropped and zoomed. The difference between not having this technology and having it is night and day in terms of amazing UX. No matter how far and at what angle (relative to the camera) anyone sits, eye contact is maintained and balanced, and nobody appears disproportionately small. We've put a lot of attention into calibrating it for a smooth experience. Optional filters normalize color tones to set a "vibe" - nobody ever has to feel self-conscious about their hair, skin, or feel vampire-awkward when connecting at night due to differences in time zones. In the audio department, our goal was to make calls absurdly silent. It's so silent, you wonder if the call dropped -- it takes time to get used to. An AI model we've been training for more than a year eliminates (or heavily suppresses) any common noise you can imagine. You can literally blend your smoothie in a 1000-watt Ninja blender next to the microphone, and nothing will go through. If you're speaking at the same time, voice is prioritized and the noise heavily suppressed. Icing on the cake: multiple laptops in one space, no echo. A complex set of buffering and latency-synchronization algorithms keep all laptops in sync, and Around even highlights the person currently talking in the room, thanks to voice-proximity algorithms we've developed with world-class DSP scientists. We now have close to 10,000 Early Access signups in the first 48 hours since launching. Thank you for being interested in what we've built and we'll be processing invites in batches so you can enjoy Around with us soon. AMA below!
Christopher Lomas 🤖🚀
@dominikbalogh Sounds cool. I'd really like to try it out myself. I use video calling for at least 5 hours a day at the moment, so this sounds like a bit of a revolution.
Daisy Edwards
@dominikbalogh Would love to test this out with my startup team. I don't have Twitter but submitted an early access request through the site. This is great- best of luck!
Deborah Shadovitz
@dominikbalogh I'm interested right now for an ElderLaw firm that looks for ways to help the older community. I am also Mac/tech/web press since 1992 as well as a traveler who has worked online from the international road almost exclusively since 2011. I've applied for early access but your pre-determined boxes can't cover what I do. I'd be able to try it with the law firm, with my fellow an-the-air radio show people, with travelers... I'm on a Mac and iPhone 6s. Around sounds great. If it works as well as it promises, and I believe it will, I'd like to know what the costs of use are as well as the security/privacy. Really hoping! (I am already making others know about Around.
Cam
@dominikbalogh Awesome! Another alternative to Zoom I can start promoting in response to all the tweets going around mentioning (the unconscionable) Zoom as if it is the only option 👍
Ahmad Afif Isa
@dominikbalogh is this already available to be used?
Alexis Ohanian
Hunter
Alexis Ohanian here from Initialized Capital! We've invested in Around in 2018 when it was still in stealth. I'll let Dominik, the Maker (CEO) tell the story below :)
Daniel Kempe
I'll come back when I can use it :-)
Alexis Ohanian
Hunter
@danielkempe I can put in a good word for you....
Richard Goodwin
@danielkempe @alexisohanian Got a couple of those words? ;)
Abe Osten
Cool UI and AI features. How do I convince people to use this over from Zoom? Most people are already on Zoom (network effect) and it works well enough, so the switching cost seems high.
Greg Kubin
Also, is this a feature Zoom could knock off?
Dominik Zane
Maker
@albostfan Great point, Al. You don't have to convince anyone. You simply start by sharing a link, exactly the same as in Zoom. In fact, the other party doesn't have to install anything, they connect to the session directly from the browser, 1-click. In a browser-version of Around, the experience does not offer all of the great features (due to browser-specific limitations), but still gives you the benefit of you doing the call via Around -- i.e. having space for your apps on the screen, and retaining the face-crop UI. If the other party that has connected through a browser wishes to, they can download the Around app to upgrade their experience for future calls. TLDR: You do not need to convince people, they would get convinced on their own :)
Dominik Zane
Maker
@kubeans Traditional video meeting solutions typically need to work with a major constrain: the software UX must be compatible with conference room equipment, on-premise installations, TVs, legacy accessories, etc. Since we support multiple laptops in one space without echo/feedback loops, we do not have that limitation, and that has given us the luxury to re-think the UX from scratch.
Niklas Pivic
Looks nice! Any word on pricing?
Dominik Zane
Maker
@niklaspivic666 Currently free! We'll announce pricing later this year, but we'll definitely keep the freemium model alive.
Garry Tan
This is an amazing antidote to being stuck inside a rectangle and unable to collaborate. Zoom is good but Around is essential for actually doing work like you are sitting next to someone.
Bernardo Oliveira
Amazing work but I would like to see what you’re doing on the encryption side. As most of the video/audio systems lack in to provide a good encryption.
Anna Filou
Looks awesome! I wonder how exactly screen sharing works? If the other participants can only see a small bubble, how are they supposed to see my screen? I guess they’d have to click my bubble to expand it.
Dean Putney
One of the worst things about video conferencing is the failure to create a persistent or ambient connection. Sometimes you just need to have someone feel like they're with you for a while without really saying anything or disturbing you. This looks like it might really help with that, I'm looking forward to trying it!
Bagit
Nice!
Luke Thomas
Would be nice to be able to use the tool.
Fajar Siddiq
congratulations on the launch, i didn't get a chance to try this. i really want to try it so bad.
Chhaya B
Such a sleek UI! Looks so similar to JammHQ which released last week with those talking heads and what have you. Can't wait to try once your product is ready for showtime :)
Pierre Roberge
Great product, can't wait to try it....and great timing!
Tudor Baidoc
Looks promising! We need this.
Paul Geller
This looks awesome!
Surjith S M
@dominikbalogh How about the Pricing? Any free version for Freelancers?
Kia Kamgar
Just got to test Around today and all I can say is 'it's a game-changer'. I love the simplicity of the app and makes meeting online a breeze. Really looking forward for it to evolve into THE app to use for remote meetings. I'll be using it with some of my clients to see if I can roll it out to all of them. There are a few things I'd love added, but it's a new app. I do hope they share a roadmap so we can see what they're working on. Loving it! 🤓👍