Pathway Innovations continues its mission of erasing barriers to learning and teaching with all-new classroom solutions at ISTELive 22. In booth 1831, attendees will see the eGlass Station that integrates a multicolored eGlass lightboard into an all-in-one mobile teaching podium; HoverCam Solo Air, a document camera with wireless USB capability; and Opus Sound System, the smart ceiling microphone which combines cutting-edge beamforming array technology with intelligent signal processing that amplifies only the teacher's voice in real time.
"While today's classroom has never been more technologically advanced, collaborative, and forward-thinking, it's created new hurdles for educators and students that must be solved," said Bayley Pierson, Pathway Innovations' director of marketing. "We've leveraged our decades in the education space and engineering expertise to identify those problems and create great hardware and software solutions that will improve learning outcomes for everyone. In our booth, attendees will see things they've never seen before, from our Solo Air wirelessly replicating the lag-free, plug-and-play experience of a traditional wired document camera and a new eGlass solution that can go anywhere to our ultimate mic drop—the Opus Far Field Sound System. Plus, we'll be giving away several eGlass Stations during the show."
eGlass Station: An all-in-one mobile teaching podium
The eGlass Station solves the challenge of setting up eGlass with limited desk space. The all-in-one mobile podium features a next-generation eGlass lightboard, a 15.6-inch monitor, and Beamio wireless HDMI casting, which are all integrated into a battery-powered adjustable pneumatic stand. The innovative, award-winning eGlass is a transparent glass writing surface that utilizes ChromaClear technology and adjustable LED lighting to intensify pen ink with an eye-catching and highly visible glow, while a camera with built-in processing allows students to see their teacher's face within the same window as they write. The eGlass Station boasts the latest eGlass enhancements: RGB glass lights that introduce multiple color combination possibilities to make marker ink glow in newer, brighter colors. The stand is also equipped with two pull-out shelves to hold a laptop, document cameras, or other teaching essentials, as well as a slide-out tray for a wireless keyboard and mouse, ensuring everything is conveniently located for fast, easy-to-conduct lessons.
The eGlass station also features the new and improved eGlassFusion software, which is available for all existing eGlass users. For an even better videoconferencing experience, it boasts further integration with Zoom. This enables users to join and conduct Zoom meetings right from eGlassFusion, eliminating the need to switch back and forth between applications. The software also supports Zoom single sign-on, so users log in only one time and under only one set of credentials for a more secure, seamless experience. Other software improvements include advanced image processing—to further reduce smudges and improve color accuracy—as well as a new template library that includes a growing catalog of digital teaching templates, such as graphs, charts, and diagrams. Educators can drag these templates into the software window to make them appear on eGlass digitally, and then write over them.
HoverCam Solo Air: A secure, wireless document camera
Thanks to Pathway's new OmniCast technology, HoverCam Solo Air can wirelessly connect to any computer without software, drivers, websites, passwords, or requiring help from IT or technology staff. Simply plug in the included USB dongle and wireless video flows as if the camera was physically plugged in. This delivers the benefit of more secure and stable connections without impacting network bandwidth. Moreover, it also supports wired HDMI and USB.
With Solo Air, students will enjoy crisp text and incredible imagery that feels personal and hands-on, thanks to the same 16-megapixel sensor and ASR zoom found in the HoverCam Solo 8Plus, which are responsible for its flawless, UHD clarity, even when zooming in. The all-digital process is seamless with no lag, buffering, or fuzziness, so students can immediately see and learn about the smallest subject matter details up close. It is also interoperable with Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, and other platforms, so teachers can stream the shot via their chosen video conferencing platform with image quality and versatility that far exceeds that of a webcam. Like the rest of Pathway Innovations' HoverCam document camera family, Solo Air is built on the intuitive Flex 11 user interface, featuring whiteboard capabilities, annotation, split screen, picture-in-picture, lesson recording, and more.
Opus Sound System: Built for today's teachers
The Opus Sound System integrates beamforming microphone array technology with live PA that amplifies the teacher's voice without the need for a lapel or pendant microphone. Wherever the teacher is in the classroom, Opus can intelligently detect the active speaker's voice and amplify it while eliminating other voices and unnecessary background noise, through active echo and noise cancellation, as well as automatic gain control. It actively eliminates feedback loops, allowing it to capture and amplify voice in the same room in real-time. Opus's intelligent zoning feature will give teachers the ability to listen-in on specific areas of their classroom without the need to position a microphone for each huddle space, a particularly useful feature for monitoring small group discussions. Covering an entire classroom, the single microphone solution is easily installed on the ceiling and connects to existing speaker systems.
