Virtual Queue Experiment
This page is devoted to the Virtual Queue Experiment. For more details about these experiments, please check the UMPIRE web page, where describe our efforts on trying to find a shared way to handle queues of both local and remote participants willing to interact with eadch other during a meeting session.
NOTE WELL: This experiment will only be enabled on a selected and limited number of meeting sessions here in Prague, so make sure se session you're interested in is one of those before attempting to use these instructions and participate actively.
The Shared Queue (virtual "mic line")
The idea behind the experiment is that, no matter how many mic lines are there, the actual queue is really just one, and the chairs moderate it accordingly. The same applies if we add remote participants to the bunch: in fact, remote participants may want to intervene with their own questions or comments as well from wherever they are, and as such they can be seen as joining an additional virtual "mic line".
This means that there needs to be a simple and effective way to handle all these mic lines in a single, shared, queue, that contains both local attendees and remote participants. This is exactly the issue the UMPIRE project tries to tackle, and does so by presenting a unified interface both local and remote attendees can exploit.
More specifically, the idea is that:
- remote attendees will simply make use of the features provided by the Meetecho interface to ask for the floor (e.g., an icon to virtually "raise your hand");
- local attendees can make use of a separate, simple web page to join the queue and monitor it;
- chairs can see requests coming from either side and moderate them accordingly.
Remote attendees that are granted the floor will be automatically unmuted and their audio injected in the physical room.
To make things simple, remote attendees will be displayed in blue in the queue, while local attendees will be displayed in red.
Instructions for local attendees
If you're a local attendee and want to participate in the experiment, simply open the web page that will be advertised in advance on the WG mailing list. This will automatically display the current queue as an anonymous user.
In order to be recognized by the system and as such be able to join the queue yourself, you'll need to provide the information specified on your IETF badge, namely your full name and your registration ID.
Once done that, just use the buttons below to join/leave the queue whenever you want, and wait for the chair(s) to grant you the floor and allow you to take your turn at the mic line.
Instruction for remote attendees
As anticipated, remote attendees will be able to join and leave the queue at any time through the Meetecho interface. The Meetecho interface will be almost exactly the same as the one you might have already used when attending regular meeting sessions, with the relevant difference that you'll have an additional icon in the upper left part of the screen, next to your name, to allow you to raise your hand.
Should the chairs grant you the floor, a green mic and webcam icon will appear, meaning you'll be automatically unmuted and your video will be injected in the room. Once you've raised your hand, you can leave the queue or (in case you were granted the floor) revoke the floor using the icon that will replace it.
Just as local attendees, you can peek the current status of the queue from Meetecho as well. To do so, use the new "Show mic line" icon that will appear in the upper right part of the screen.