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p/vidrioHolographic screencasting app for Mac. Free for COVID-19
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Jim Fisher

Vidrio - Holographic screencasting app for Mac. Free for COVID-19

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Vidrio puts your webcam stream behind your windows. Then share or record your screen — suddenly, your holographic screen floats between you and your audience. You gesture with your hand, and their heads follow. Vidrio makes effortlessly engaging screencasts.

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Jim Fisher
Maker
I made Vidrio because I saw Tony Stark's holographic display and thought, "I want that." I made the closest thing that could run on a Mac. I used Vidrio for some presentations and screencasts, and got some amazing reactions. Now I'm releasing it for all of you. It's perfect for remote working via Zoom, screencasts via YouTube, live coding on Twitch, etc. I'm making it free for all COVID-19 remote working. Let me know what cool videos and presentations you make with it!
Soumitra Sengupta
@james_fisher2 Really cool and really useful for the times. Hope this product really picks up. This is much better than doing annotations on virtual whiteboards.
Jim Fisher
Maker
@soumitrasen thanks! Let me know what you make with it! :D
Jim Fisher
Maker
@scouech thanks! There actually is! The UX for it is still janky, which is why I've kept this quiet so far, but if you want to try it out: (1) Open Security & Privacy; (2) Go to Accessibility list; (3) Add Vidrio to the list; (4) relaunch Vidrio; (5) Try Fn+Ctrl+p to toggle pause/unpause. You can also use Fn+Ctrl with any of -+0[] for more opacity controls. BE CAREFUL with Fn+Ctrl+[ because it will make your face completely opaque, so you can't see your windows! Try it out and let me know whether it works for you!
Kevin Norman
works exactly as described, and particularly useful when attempting to give a presentation over Zoom or Hangouts.
Yash Bhardwaj
What problem is it solving? I don't think overlaying your webcam feed behind your windows solves more problems than it creates. First of you can't guarantee ease of reading information because of random colors appearing on random colors. I'd even argue it creates situations where people don't know where to focus on. Or am I missing something.
Jim Fisher
Maker
Hey @yash - always a good question. The main problem I find with traditional "corner cam" is that the viewer can't easily see what the presenter is focussing on. The presenter can wave the cursor around, but Vidrio offers a couple of more "engaging" ways to direct attention: - When the presenter looks at something, the viewer can see what they're looking at. The presenter's gaze is a key signal of what the viewer should focus on - just like in real life. - If "looking" is not enough, the presenter can use their hands to point at things on the screen. (This can be overused.) Vidrio works best when presenting clean user interfaces. You're totally right that in some situations, like presenting complex images/videos, the composition of images and webcam can be confusing.
Steve Adams
@yash Personally I think user engagement is an important aspect as well as personalising a session. You can always either reduce the opacity or pause during a session if it’s gets too busy.
Ryan Hoover
This reminds me of a blogging concept @kevinrose, @hemeon, and @zinssmeister explored years ago.
Jim Fisher
Maker
@kevinrose @hemeon @zinssmeister @rrhoover Interesting - blogs are not the use-case I imagined, but it has similar effects here - brings the writer closer to the reader.
Jonathan Lloyd
Really great way to make remote screen shares much more personal and expressive, recommend!
Calum Webb
This looks like a great idea, congrats on the launch @james_fisher2!
Rizo
Simple and elegant. Once you try it, it becomes essential!
Dale Goulding
This is excellent, I would much prefer this than using Zoom when having to give a demo. Nice work!
Yevhenii Peteliev
Nice! I like it. I can't wait when I try it :) Congratulations!
Matt Collier
Oooooh nice, I'm going to try this for my next online class
Luís Fonseca
I've tried it out the other day and it made the presentation a lot more interesting. It does take a bit of time to get used to point at things accurately, but once you get the hang of it, it's really cool.
Farbod Saraf
Super useful! We'll add it to http://softwaredonation.org/
Jim Fisher
Maker
@farbodsaraf thanks! And hey, that's an interesting site - especially establishing "software donation" as a concept
Jonathon Lui
@james_fisher2 Good job on the app. Works well. A small issue: the app icon both in the menu bar and in Finder is hard to see in dark mode because the icon is translucent dark grey. Suggest adding an alternative icon for dark mode users.
Jim Fisher
Maker
@jonathonlui1 ironic after I designed the website in dark mode :D Thanks for the report, I'll definitely fix it!
Jim Fisher
Maker
@jonathonlui1 I just released v1.7 which should fix it!
Matthew Quinn
Loom needs to buy this
Danny Cohen
@james_fisher2 this is awesome. Anyway to sign up for notification when ready for windows?
Jim Fisher
Maker
@danny_cohen1 you just did! 😄 I can let you know here when I release something. Or follow https://twitter.com/vidrioapp. But yeah, I should add a proper newsletter/mailing list ...
vayare Lord Come
Very good im waiting you im my website https://vayare.ir
Liam Green
Love it! Check out https://www.producthunt.com/post... as well
Rammohan Bhoopalan
@james_fisher2 how do I turn it off?
Steve Adams
@james_fisher2 @rammness - select Pause from the menu bar option.
Ayoola John
I love Vidrio! Is it possible to switch the screen that has the Vidrio overlay if I have a multi screen desktop setup?
Steve Adams
I see that there is the ability to choose a camera. I am using EpocCam (to use my phone as the webcam) but do not see it as a choice. Am I doing something wrong, or is this not a possible combination? Like the app though. I’m using it on a large screen (iMac) and I’m not sure if the perspective is right as the finger pointing is way off and takes some getting used to!!