Staying On Track in Education

By Ollie Newland | Field Marketing Manager, Panasonic

Panasonic’s auto-tracking over IP technology is a cable-free and integrated solution which provides the ability to automatically track a presenter. It dramatically simplifies lecture or presenter capture, making it a perfect option for classrooms, auditoriums, conference rooms and stage environments.

The technology is proprietary to Panasonic PTZ cameras and utilises a combination of tracking methods including facial detection, body template matching and deep learning to keep track of a speaker or lecturer. This means that a presentation can be recorded without the need for an additional camera operator, infrared lanyards or expensive tracking chains.

It is available in two versions, depending on the customer’s requirements: a single-user application installed on a PC and a network version which is installed on a server. In both cases it is a one-time purchase, with no annual subscription, and is scalable with the specifications of the host PC or server - the higher the spec, the better the tracking performance.

Panasonic also works closely with Panopto, a Video Content Management System (VCMS) widely used in education, to simultaneously capture video, audio and ancillary presentation data.

Installing an auto-tracking system is very straightforward thanks to Panasonic’s one-cable solution. Video, audio, control and power can all be provided via a single CAT5 cable, thanks to the Power over Ethernet (PoE+) feature. Panasonic’s offering is unique in that it is a glass-to-glass solution that covers content capture to output via its projection and display technology. The solution is already being used in a wide array of environments, from lecture capture in higher education institutions, to live event streaming and meeting recording within a business environment.

Panasonic is currently offering a free, 90-day trial of the SF100 (PC) and SF200 (server) auto-tracking software, both of which can be downloaded here.

Recently this solution was taken a step further with the introduction of voice-based PTZ camera control. The solution uses Panasonic PTZ cameras, TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2) microphones from Sennheiser and a special module development from Systemhaus Pauly, enabling the PTZ cameras to automatically switch focus between different speakers. This is all managed centrally over a network using a media control system such as the CP3 from Crestron.

To learn more about this solution, check out this video.