PANACAST 3 PANORAMIC VIDEO COLLABORATION DEVICE

Altia Systems introduces the PanaCast 3, the world’s first intelligent panoramic video system with ~40 Megapixels capacity for today’s generation of distributed teams. PanaCast 3 integrates three 13-megapixel cameras, stereo microphones and advanced software to deliver 100% video coverage, 100% audio capture and 100% data sensing.

The portable, easy-to-use system is making its formal debut at Pepcom’s Digital Experience event and will be demonstrated at CES 2019 at Booth MP25677 in South Hall 2 of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

PanaCast 3 easily mounts on top of any digital display or on a wall with available mounting hardware. The USB-C connection allows connection to any compatible device or display for instant setup and mobile meeting capability. PanaCast 3 is compatible with all of today’s leading collaboration software providers, including Microsoft Teams, Skype, Zoom, Cisco WebEx, Slack, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, join.me and more.

“From huddle rooms to Fortune 500 board rooms and auditoriums, PanaCast 3 provides the ultimate video collaboration experience to help teams communicate better, build trust and accelerate business,” said Aurangzeb Khan, President and CEO of Altia Systems. “In addition to enhanced video and audio performance, the PanaCast 3 system provides accurate AI data, which is critical for companies to improve participants’ experience autonomously, automate workflows, and generate data lakes of valid information.”

Launching at an unprecedented industry price point of $895, PanaCast 3 uses three 13-megapixel cameras working as one via the PanaCast Vision Processor to capture the entire room on video, a digital signal processor and two omnidirectional microphones with 40% better separation for enhanced audio and an advanced multi-sensor AI array that has built-in capabilities to detect people. PanaCast 3 delivers crystal clear video over a 180° field of view at Panoramic-4K resolution (3840×1080), without the distortion of ultra-wide angle or fisheye lens cameras. PanaCast 3 lets users include all team members in their conversations and utilise every seat in their rooms or collaboration spaces, with lossless zoom up to 6x and real-time video stitching just 18 inches from the camera.

Representing an outstanding value, PanaCast 3 is the company’s first model to come standard with Intelligent Zoom, which autonomously adjusts the field of view to include everyone in the conversation, and the PanaCast API, which enables developers and partners to query the system for real-time information, such as people count data. PanaCast Vivid, which maximises video performance from rooms with widely varying light conditions, will also be delivered at no additional cost for PanaCast 3 customers in an upcoming release. Intelligent Zoom, PanaCast Vivid and PanaCast API are part of PanaCast’s Intelligent Vision 2.0 suite of edge AI software products for the PanaCast line of camera systems.

According to Altia Systems Director of Engineering, Yashket Gupta, “PanaCast 3’s leading-edge cameras and microphones, fourth-generation stitching technology and Intelligent Vision software work as one to ensure optimal performance. Now any room, no matter the size or number of participants, can be used to video conference with wall-to-wall coverage in Panoramic-4K video.”

In addition to the real-time video enhancing features of Intelligent Vision, PanaCast 3’s built-in people detection technologies enable system-wide data analytics by capturing accurate usage and occupancy information that can be used to automate workflows. “As AV and IT become more and more integrated, the need for accurate data and metrics increases,” Khan added. “Our customers value the fact that — in addition to top-tier video and audio — we uniquely provide wall-to-wall data coverage, making PanaCast the ideal device for modern video communications.”

To deliver the most accurate data, Altia Systems partnered with Intel to develop Advanced People Detection and Counting technology, and provides data free of cost via the PanaCast API, or with built-in capabilities in the latest version of the PanaCast Vision app.  The AI software utilises a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to count the number of people on camera, up to 40ft away, and provide searchable data which organisations can use to inform decisions on calendar management, room utilisation and resource management, or to automate facility assets such as TV monitors, lights, videoconferencing equipment and more. The CNN inference engine is highly optimised for Intel Core processor-based PCs and the Panoramic-4K video of PanaCast cameras. The technology is available through the PanaCast API built for the Windows operating system and can be used for large areas like classrooms, auditoriums and general gatherings.

“The PanaCast 3 system proves that, in the world of video conferencing, every inch and every pixel counts,” Gupta said. “By developing the latest camera technologies and a super-optimised multi-camera array, we have improved every aspect of video capture and performance, cutting the minimum stitching distance in half, doubling the zoom capability and increasing the native capture resolution by 300%. It extends the unique value proposition of PanaCast, while retaining simple Plug-and-Play operation to eliminate costly set up and training.”

More than 1600 companies have already chosen PanaCast as their video collaboration technology solution, including Uber, which last year deployed more than 850 PanaCast cameras in huddle rooms and conference rooms to connect employees in hundreds of offices around the world. See https://www.panacast.com/customer-stories/ for more information.

PanaCast 2, now widely deployed with Fortune 2000 companies and global corporations, continues forward and will receive ongoing enhancements in future updates, for example, with the fourth-generation stitching technology which will be integrated in an upcoming firmware release. Concurrent with this launch, PanaCast 2 price is being reduced to $795.

PanaCast: www.panacast.com
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