Auditorium Chair For Conference Hall

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If you are tired of Zoom meetings and Houseparty gatherings, a company in London

Introduced a new method of connecting with colleagues, friends and family, which looked more like a video game than a virtual meeting room.

Teooh's software invites anyone to set up digital events in a range of spaces, from wood-paneled lounges to auditoriums with virtual chairs. You don't need to adjust the webcam and make sure you are standing in a professional background, but you can adjust the animated avatar to represent you in the meeting, thereby customizing your hair, skin tone, body shape and other features.

The meeting environment looks like

Or virtual environment

, But CEO Don Stein emphasized that Teooh intends to make the platform accessible to everyone (not only game fans) (the platform was launched in a beta version on April 1 and can be used on computers or iOS devices with Android) .

"Gamers have been doing this for ten years

with

," he said. "We can now do this for ordinary people who may not have an Xbox, gaming PC or headset. "

When I talked to Stein and some of his colleagues on the platform, I spent a few minutes customizing the look on the Macbook, roughly approaching my body, and choosing the hairstyle I desire once the barber shop reopens. Then, just a click of the mouse took me into a virtual environment, where I sat at a small round table with some people from Teooh. We can talk to each other through headsets and our computer microphones, and respond to comments by clicking on a set of standard reaction emojis, emojis will display these emojis and show great effects, but we don’t see them in real life each other.

This is part of Teooh's benefits: you don't need to fuss about dress or background, nor worry about shaving or makeup, because you can customize your avatar to look smooth or sc as you want. Of course, the disadvantage is that you cannot see all the emotions on other people’s faces, and it may be difficult to use emojis to react to particularly important news or comments. When Stein spoke to me, his colleagues often responded to his statement with reaction emojis. Their character movements seemed to be a bit repetitive, but compared to watching a video conference player keeping his poker face, this may be Not so embarrassing yet.

The controls are relatively simple, especially for anyone who has played video games in the past. Because the avatar moves in a very narrow range, it is difficult to imagine making an embarrassing mistake. Stein said this is the goal: despite some learning curve, game enthusiasts are not required to use the platform.

He said: "It is impossible to build only for the pioneers of virtual reality."

Stein said that another important aspect is that the Teooh environment can be used to host various virtual events. Animation Film Festival

Recently held online

Use Teooh, use a virtual meeting room specially designed for group discussions, and equipped with a digital screen, you can display slides and even video clips.

Participants sitting in the Teooh auditorium can turn around and talk to the avatar sitting next to them, and find each other's information by clicking or tapping. This is similar to the way two conference participants shake hands in the pre-coronavirus world. When they talk to each other, the sound will be transmitted to other participants through the space, becoming a form of acoustic simulation of the real auditorium.

"We have done a good job of building the audio engine from the ground up to reproduce the feeling in real life," Stein said. He quickly performed a demonstration, placing both our avatars around the auditorium, showing how our proximity affects how we can hear each other or whether we can hear each other. Naturally, speakers using digital microphones on a virtual stage are easier to hear than speakers in an auditorium.

For privacy considerations, Teooh is not completely real: discussions at the private meeting table on the side of the virtual meeting room can only be heard by the participants, so private conversations can be conducted without fear of eavesdropping.

Stein said the company plans to launch other types of rooms based on user needs. He said that in the pandemic, virtual space has been widely used.

He said: "We have people hosting birthday parties and personal birthday parties with their families." "We have some people hanging out with their parents. We took a bar quiz."

Although Teooh will continue to provide free hosting, it also plans to offer a premium plan with greater customization capabilities. Users may have more options to customize their avatar, similar to large free games (for example,

. Company customers can make similar adjustments to the meeting room according to their own preferences, add logos on the walls, or choose ideal seating arrangements, lighting schemes and virtual decorations.

"The way we make products is essentially Lego bricks," Stein said.

The company is also developing a ticketing system to allow users to provide paid or restricted admission. Of course, public events will bring a greater risk of malicious users harassing others, so Teooh is also developing tools to enable users to report inappropriate behaviors, and may require event participants to use external platforms (such as LinkedIn or Twitter) by default. Log in, so they are associated with external identities. Stan said: "You know they feel the social pressure to act in an appropriate way."

Apart from genuine misconduct, it is not clear what the exact behavior looked like. When I try to make my avatar look like a professional version of myself for interviews and presentations, do I choose something whimsical, such as longer hair, virtual high-top sneakers or even green skin, Have a night of casual trivia? How many reaction emojis of the correct number can cheer up a colleague or boss’s speech? Is it weird to use cardiac response in professional settings? Does the fact that no one can see your distracting face means that multitasking is fine?

When the pandemic eases, Teooh may not be able to contend with real events. But at the same time, it provides a good breakthrough for thinking about what to wear and where to sit on the next Zoom call.

Steven Melendez is an independent journalist based in New Orleans.

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Senator Chuck Winder will speak in the Senate of the Idaho State Capitol on Wednesday, August 26, 2020.

Members of Congress gathered in the House of Representatives at a special meeting held in the capital of Idaho on Monday, August 24, 2020.

Members of Congress gathered in the House of Representatives at a special meeting held in the capital of Idaho on Monday, August 24, 2020.

Idaho's 2021 legislative session will begin on Monday, when Governor Brad Little will deliver his State of the Union address. This photo of the Capitol was taken early last year.

A huge Idaho flag hangs in the rotunda of the State Capitol of the Idaho Legislative Assembly in 2021.

Rep. Brent Crane addresses a group of lawmakers at a self-described "special meeting" in the Idaho State Capitol on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.

The Idaho State Capitol, Tuesday, January 7, 2020. Governor Brad Little will speak at the State State Speech in 2021 on January 11, the day the legislative session begins. 

Ilana Rubel

Scott Bedeck

Boise-Idaho Legislative Assembly members will meet in person at the first regular meeting of the 66th Idaho Legislature on Monday. In the pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 1,500 Idaho people, their top priority is to reduce the governor’s ability to respond to pandemics or other disasters.

R-Boise Senate President Pro-Tem Chuck Winder said: "This has been going on for almost a year, and I think people just feel that the legislature is not playing its due role."

He said: "There are some things we might suggest that the executive branch dislikes, but we think that in this case, there will be enough support to veto the veto."

The Speaker of the R-Oakley House of Representatives Scott Bedke said: “There is no second guess that can explain the decision that the governor must make.” “Some people agree, some people disagree. But the most important thing here is that Who makes the decision."

Bedek said: "Our government system is based on checks and balances." "Also, because you are in a disaster or emergency situation, now is not the time to abandon this historic system. In fact, I can present a case, That's when you need it most."

Not surprisingly, cutting one's own executive power is not among the priorities implied by Governor Brad Little. On Monday, he will use his state and budget information to set the initial agenda for the meeting for members of Congress. Republican governors recently focused their discussion on how to use record state surpluses to invest in infrastructure, including education, transportation, and broadband; and provide some form of tax relief, and many lawmakers have also focused on the latter.

Governor Brad Little will present the State of the State and Budget Report at 1pm on Monday in the Lincoln Auditorium. The lecture hall will be open to the public during the lecture, in line with the second phase of the Idaho rebound plan, but the audience can watch

.

House Minority Leader Boise (I-Boise) MP Ilana Rubel said reducing executive power is not on her core agenda. She said: "We really think this will not benefit working families." "We just don't know that seizing power is how we should use our time in the Legislative Council now."

At the special meeting in August, Republican leaders in the House and Senate used it as a template for the "balance of power" between the Idaho legislature and the executive branch. Wendell said he hopes to introduce a package of bills in the first week of the meeting.

The resolution calls for all measures to be taken, from ending the current state of emergency for COVID-19, to requiring lawmakers to agree whether any emergency declarations will exceed a certain period of time, to constitutional amendments to allow the legislature to convene special meetings instead of waiting for the governor Speech. Wendell pointed out that the constitutional amendment will not be approved by voters in the 2022 general election until both houses are passed by a two-thirds advantage.

Rubel said: "This will require some serious sideboards, because we may be trapped in a legislature for a whole year, which will cost taxpayers a huge price, and will only lead to endless invincibility. ."

Idaho legislators hold regular meetings in January each year, usually working for about three months, although there is no set end time. In recent years, there were only 75 days of meetings in 2020 and 2016, and the historical record in 2003 was 118 days, which almost matched the 117 days in 2009.

Rep. Greg Chaney, the chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary (R-Caldwell), said: "I think emergency power will be the focus of the entire conference." "This really seems to be the most anxious thing for everyone. thing."

Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, chairman of the newly installed House State Affairs Committee, said: "This will be a struggle between the executive and the legislative branch for rebalancing power.... I think it will be in the legislative session. It’s the dominant position, I do."

Here are some other issues that lawmakers will face when they meet in the State Capitol on Monday:

After the chaos during the special meeting in August, including an unruly crowd led by Ammon Bundy, they smashed the glass door leading to the House of Representatives gallery and then filled the gallery ignoring the rules of social evacuations. The Idaho State Conference of the Year for Safety Measures included other state police officers. The meeting was also held during the COVID-19 pandemic, although both Boise and Ada counties had requirements for masks and social distancing, and the second phase of the emergency order limited the attendance of all government meetings across the state to 10. The legislature will not abide by these rules.

It is expected that 70 members of the House of Representatives and 35 senators will gather in their chamber. Seating in the committee meeting room will be restricted to maintain distance.

The legislature formulates its own operating rules in its conference halls, committee rooms and offices. Both Bedek and Wind said that neither legislators nor the public need to wear masks. Wend said, however, anyone who enters the Senate is required to wear a mask. According to the opinion of the Idaho Attorney General, public areas (including corridors) in the Capitol must comply with local requirements.

Wend said: "This will be a challenge." "Our goal is to stay as normal as possible, but if people can't come here in Boise, or even if they come here and are in poor health, it can give people a chance to testify and Participate. Want to enter the building or be exposed in this way.” The legislature has upgraded the technology in the past year to allow remote public testimony, but Bedke said that the use in the House committee will be entirely up to each The chairman of the committee decides for himself. Wind said the Senate is committed to allowing all committees to do so.

He said: "In reviewing these very important decisions, we will do everything possible to involve the public and become part of the decision-making process."

Colonel Kendrick Wells, Commissioner of the Idaho Police Department, said: "The essence of our democracy lies in citizen participation in this process, so our role is to ensure that people feel safe and comfortable when they are there."

Wells said that Internet service providers have three major goals: to safeguard the constitutional rights of everyone; to ensure that government affairs can continue; and to “resolve acts of violence or civil disturbances that occur.” He said this may include arrests and criminal charges.

Although Idaho has been hit by the pandemic and business closures in the past year, the state’s economy has been soaring, housing construction has developed rapidly, and thousands of new residents have poured in.

Rep. Rick Youngblood, co-chair of the Joint Financial Appropriations Committee, R-Nampa, said last week after hearing a hearing on the state of Idaho’s economy: "Our growth is crazy. "But he said the state has long delayed urgent infrastructure needs, including transportation investments.

This is also the top priority of Little’s agenda, and both parties support investments in long-term transportation improvements. A study by Boise State University found that the state’s current annual transportation funding gap is $242 million. This is only to maintain the current transportation system; it cannot solve the cost of growth.

Few people and lawmakers have been talking about investing in other infrastructure needs in Idaho, including the needs of schools. Statewide broadband services; water conservancy projects, etc.

Bedke pointed out that the state’s budget surplus reached a record $600 million. He said: "If we use part of our surplus to invest there, it will save us a lot of money."

The Idaho School Board Association is vigorously promoting the approval of school development impact fees this year. Idaho has allowed the project to fund roads, parks and other public facilities, but has excluded schools. This will shift some of the burden of school expansion to serve the new growth to new immigrants, rather than hitting existing residents by increasing property taxes.

The fast-growing property tax, especially the collection of residential property in fast-growing areas, has caused concerns throughout the state. The Legislative Interim Committee proposed:

People are also interested in legislation passed by an overwhelming majority in the Senate last year, but never heard of it in the House of Representatives to increase circuit breakers. This is the main state Idaho offers to low-income seniors, the disabled, and veterans. Property tax relief measures. Since 2006, there has been no adjustment for inflation.

Minority Democrats announced the following bill:

Rubell said these proposals would reduce property taxes for homeowners while still "keeping important services intact."

The new statewide reporting system will cost $1.7 million in the first year and $1.3 million each year thereafter, and it will require four new state employees, but the idea has been supported to find a way to really boost property tax increases. Bedek said: "I don't think it is enough to repair by itself, but it must be done to get started."

One of the basic tasks that the legislature must complete is to develop a balanced budget for the state before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. It is expected that due to the spring pandemic and statewide closures, state taxes will fall sharply, and almost no reduction of 5 percent of all state budgets this year has been implemented, but it depends on the effectiveness of lawmakers. Since then, state tax revenue has not decreased, but has soared, and the state is now expected to achieve a record surplus of $600 million by the end of the current fiscal year.

The state’s budget stabilization fund is Idaho’s main rain fund with a balance of more than $423.4 million. Legislative budget director Paul Headlee told lawmakers last week: "This is the largest balance we have in the fund since it was established in 1984." "This accounted for 10.5% of general fund revenue last year." This does not include other reserves, including the Public Education Stability Fund, the state's disaster contingency fund and tax relief fund, and online sales tax revenue has been deposited in the fund. Headlee reports that the current total balance of various reserves is $588 million, accounting for 14.6% of last year's revenue.

At the same time, functional departments in states ranging from schools to prisons to health care have reported huge demand, including increased costs due to changes caused by the pandemic. Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid has met some of these needs, but it cannot be expected to continue in the future.

Bedek said: "We need to find effective and ineffective methods this year." "If we are to rely more on the Internet to provide education, then we need to ensure that the Internet can work properly."

Little and the Republican-led legislature (86 of the 105 seats occupied by Republicans) are both interested in providing tax relief to Idaho because the state has a budget surplus. In addition, approximately $135 million sits in the "tax cut fund", which is accumulating because legislators used online sales tax revenue in 2019 to anticipate future tax cuts, but never allocated any money. Generally, business tax revenues mainly flow to the state general fund and provide funds for local government operations throughout the state.

Bedek said he is in favor of increasing the grocery tax credit to provide tax relief. He said: "This is immediate relief for this year. Don't wait for the a-drop effect, don't wait for bureaucrats to define food, and don't establish an audit system." Newly returned Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg and Senator Christy Zito, R-Hammett The leading group of conservative Republicans is advocating a "conservative agenda" calling for the elimination of grocery sales taxes. Reduce or eliminate property taxes, which are the main source of funding for local government services; and other tax reduction measures. Some Republican lawmakers called for further cuts in state income taxes, which further intensified the cuts enacted in 2018.

Rubel said: "I think the first thing we should do is to consider the core needs of citizens before considering tax cuts. Tax cuts have always been mainly funded and closely related.... I am willing to accept that it can actually help working families. Tax cuts, but we have never really seen any interest in any of them."

there are more. In a typical legislative meeting, legislators proposed more than 500 bills, and eventually more than 300 became new laws.

Recommendations under consideration include:

Legislative Democrats are seeking to "at least begin discussions about medical marijuana," which is now allowed in most states, including five of Idaho's six neighbors.

"I know this situation has been raised in the elderly community," Rubel said. "This is not young people who want to go to the party. This is brought to us by elderly people and cancer patients who really suffer from pain. They are now forced to take opioids and have serious side effects. They are looking for a better one. A safe way to manage pain."

Even if neighboring countries have taken steps to liberalize cannabis laws, the Idaho state legislature firmly opposes any such moves, and even rejects the legalization of industrial hemp that has taken effect at the federal level and is strongly supported by Idaho agriculture.

In 2013, the legislature overwhelmingly passed SCR 112, announcing that the Idaho legislature opposed "efforts to legalize marijuana for any purpose in Idaho." Wind, the main sponsor of the resolution, is currently the leader of the Senate of Idaho.

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Composer and postdoctoral researcher at the Maastricht Classical Music Innovation Center, Maastricht University

You pass through the wide doorway into a large space with good ventilation. Inside, the greeter behind the screen will scan your ticket and send it to you. The sign on the carpet takes you to the large auditorium, which is lined up in a row, one for each household. In the middle of the room, the stage is set as a complete band. The same stage will be used for drama production tomorrow. The lights dimmed. The music begins.

If we think creatively, this situation may become a reality. The art world is in a terrible state,

with

Among other things, the venue continues to be required to re-represent the troubled theater department and its many tasks. But winter is here, and with it comes the prospect of poor prospects.

. Before things get better, things may get worse.

In many viewers over the age of 65, this is not only a problem of R-value and daily cases, but also people's sense of security. It is extremely unlikely that traditional venues will cater to the needs of a broad audience for at least six months, and it may not be until the vaccine is created and widely used.

"

For centuries, people have seen it as the main narrative of reshaping urban space, and maintaining hygiene in the COVID era is truly difficult.

Following the rule of even 1 meter length will reduce the capacity of most venues to below 50%, and frankly, it almost feels meaningless, except in larger halls. This puts the performing arts in a terrible situation, it seems that a choice can be made between a loss-making performance by a few performers or a contribution to a huge performer.

. It is increasingly felt that the latter’s proximity to the live experience will only reduce their satisfaction, just like providing plastic food to hungry people.

Now is the time for the government and local authorities to take action and create performance conditions that can work in all but the most severe lockdown situations. This will be no small effort, but if we want to carry out a large-scale live performance for us to spend another winter, it must be done.

What is needed is space. The space that can be circulated, the space that can be placed separately, the space between the venue staff and the audience. In the winter in the UK, outdoor activities will be difficult to maintain. The capacity of the toilets in the church is limited (if you think this is not important, you have not read many venue feedback forms). In fact, the conference center is the most likely solution. The reduction of large-scale events means that they have vacancies, and should be able to accommodate large numbers of people and flexible seating arrangements.

There is only one viable stage that can bring comedy, music, mini-opera and drama back to the city, although the requirements of dance on a particular stage may be more difficult. The seats must be flexible and not arranged in a row. Maybe the stage should be placed in the center of the large room. This may not be a perfect aesthetic experience, but it beats the other half-watched live broadcast or broadcast to a few people.

Take Scotland as an example. A super stadium in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen can revive the country's three major orchestras, and there are more. of

For example, in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, the maximum capacity is usually 2,000 and the raised floor is movable. If it reaches 40% of the total, it will start to provide organizations with something similar to fixed income.

The technical and stage management teams in the theater and music fields are used to getting things done in a short time. Together, they will be unstoppable. In the case of theaters, the acoustics of these spaces can be subtly enhanced through amplification and electronically assisted resonance of classical music. The latter can provide amazing natural reverberation, just like before

Held in London's concert hall for decades.

Although the initial costs will be huge, this plan is beneficial because it enables the organization to increase revenue and provide some much-needed employment opportunities for box office and temporary workers.

Currently, we are making payments to institutions. If they keep half of their employees intact during this period, then it is considered a success. Government support for a broad space command system will be a significant investment and will provide larger institutions with better means of self-support, although this emphasis should be combined with similar efforts on behalf of small organizations and freelancers . Indeed, this may be a sharing stage for smaller companies, attracting more and more people to participate in their programs, while also sharing the revenue generated.

When looking for space, it also left the problem of venue. The bands and theater companies that took away their main attraction seemed to have little help in their careers. But what I want to say is that there is almost no financial guarantee for a 200-person concert, not to mention the risk of being closed again once the virus recurs. The limited but safer employment opportunities for employees, and the ability to reposition smaller venues (whether as university lecture halls, smaller performance venues or community hubs), are more likely to see them during this time.

One of the lessons of the lock-in is that life without art is indeed a very gloomy life. If it can replace on-site experience, it has not been discovered yet. If performances can be performed as safely as entering a store or eating in a restaurant, then the art world and society should have ample opportunities to take advantage of their opportunities to improve lives. All it needs is that the government takes decisive and positive action to lead this issue.

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