jesse_the_k: Baby wearing black glasses bigger than head (eyeglasses baby)
[personal profile] jesse_the_k

It’s a cool concept, hides clutter in your room. Also creates barriers.

Zoom virtual backgrounds combine you in the foreground with something nifty in the background. (Think the weather reporter on TV in front of a big US map.) In the past week I've seen the prow of a ship, inside of Tardis, comets, the Hamilton stage and more. Zoom itself says This feature works best with a green screen and uniform lighting, to allow Zoom to detect the difference between you and your background. -- which is not equipment most people have at home!

The Zoom software uses clever algorithms to isolate your outline from what your camera captures. But these algorithms often fail for delicate edges, like hair or hands. Outcome: every movement captured on camera includes Zoom struggling to adjust the edges, which can result in your head and hands sparkling, flashing, or disappearing altogether.

It’s distracting and unpleasant for me when even one user has the virtual background. For some of us with migraine, vestibular issues, brain injury or epilepsy it can be a complete barrier.

Even if the software works perfectly, some of the available backgrounds include so much detail that it overwhelms your image. I can’t read your facial expression, much less your lips. This results in no benefit to using video at all.

Do you have issues with this aspect of Zoom? Are there benefits to the backgrounds that I'm missing?

sasha_feather: dolphin and zebra gazing at each other across glass (dolphin and zebra)
[personal profile] sasha_feather
Those of us with sensitivity to fluorescent lights may be dismayed by the fact that incandescent lights are being phased out in a lot of places. They will be gone from U.S. stores by 2012.

The good news is that CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) are getting better.

I heard on NPR that bulbs marked 2700K are the closest in quality to incandescent light. Those with "EnergyStar" are required to have this type of labeling. The "K" stands for Kelvins and refers to color temperature. The higher the number of Kelvins, the bluer the shade of light.

I'm not sure if the color temperature specificallly is a migraine trigger/aggravator or not. Probably brightness, and just the fact that lights are overhead and shining down, are also factors.

Most conventions I've been to are at hotels or in buildings with bright, industrial-style overhead fluorescent lights. I wear caps or sunglasses to protect my eyes, and also drink a lot of water and carry some excedrin.

Party rooms are usually darker (but also louder) than panel rooms.

WisCon has a designated Quiet Place that is a dark, quiet room with seating for convention members to use during the day, to get away from the brightness and noise of the crowded con. They/we also publish a list of nearby green spaces to go to de-stress. I find these things really helpful.

May 2025

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