Meeting Owl Setup and Usage Instructions
"Owl Cameras" are a new 360-degree camera hardware purchased throughout some of Engineering, particularly for the Dean's Office, for use in conference rooms.
Basic Use by Meeting Attendees
- Connect Meeting Owl to power and USB plug underneath
- Plug USB into the device that will be running the meeting program (Zoom or WebEx)
- In your meeting program (Zoom or WebEx), go to Settings and set your Video or Camera input to the Meeting Owl.
- It may take a few moments, but it will follow the speaker or speakers if they move around the room based on sound.
- The Mute, Volume + / Volume -, and Option (above the power and USB ports) buttons are on the base of the Owl.
- The Option button "toggles the Speaker Spotlight animation.By default, the animation that is used to highlight active speaker is smart combination of slide animations and straight cuts. You can change this animation to be a straight cut view all the time by pressing and holding the Owl button located on the base of the Owl until you hear a tone, approximately 2 seconds. When this animation is selected, the light above the Owl button will illuminate blue."
Advanced Features
You can gain more control over the Meeting Owl's focus using the Meeting Owl App on your phone.
- Get the Meeting Owl App: Android | iPhone
- In the App, click on Find nearby Owl
- Choose the appropriate Meeting Owl - it will blink its eyes at you.
Camera Controls
Camera Lock and Zoom
Camera Lock and Zoom will let you manually control the Owl from your phone.
On Phone: |
On Meeting Program: |
Presenter Enhance
Toggle this option to turn on or off whether the Owl follows the speaker around while they move.
360-degree Pano
Toggle this option to turn on or off the 360-degree panorama at the top of the Meeting video.
Adding a Secondary Owl
To add a second Meeting Owl, please contact EIT Help at eit-help@umd.edu or call 301-405-3689.
Mounting the Owl to a Tripod
The Owl camera only works with EIT’s Sony tripod (tripod #4).
- Pull the “FREE LOCK” knob towards you to unlock the release plate.
- Slide the release plate towards you then lift up to fully release the plate from it's notch in the tripod head.
- Turn the Owl camera upside down INSIDE the carrying case to ensure you do not scratch the camera located on the top of the Owl.
- Align the release plate’s screw with the screw thread located at the bottom of the Owl.
- Tighten the thumb screw located on the underneath side of the release plate with your fingers or use a flat-head screwdriver (located inside the tripod bag).
Tighten until the release plate is secured to the Owl's base.
Turn the Owl right side up once completed.
- With one hand, pull the “FREE LOCK” knob towards you.
With the other hand, position the release plate at the head of its notch at the top of the tripod. You may need to slightly angle the Owl away from you to get the plate into the correct position.
- Slide the release plate down into its notch on the tripod head. Once in position, release the knob to lock the release plate in place.
The Owl camera should then sit firmly on the tripod.
Rotating and angling the camera is best done by using the tripod's arm. Please remove the Owl from the tripod before moving the tripod. Do not attempt to move the tripod while the Owl is attached.