Case Study: AREC, Sennheiser and QSC Turn One Room into Three for an Energy Major

Dear ADENA Partners, this month's case study highlights how a major energy and chemical products distributor in Chile uses AREC infrared tracking cameras to enhance their conferencing experience. The solution, created by our partner Videocorp, is centred around AREC CI-T10 IR tracking cameras and products from other brands, including Epson, Sennheiser, and QSC. Together, our brands enable the company to conduct up to three simultaneous conference calls in a highly modular room with ease.

The company is one of the main Chilean distributors of fuels, lubricants, and other chemical products used in the industrial, marine, aviation, land transportation, construction, and other sectors. With more than 100 years of experience, the company has business interests in other countries as well, such as Paraguay and the USA. Consequently, the company’s headquarters are always bustling with activity and meetings between the different divisions and partners. Sometimes, these meetings require multiple divisions of the company to be present, while at other times, multiple separate meetings need to take place simultaneously. Since the existing room arrangements did not accommodate these specifics, the company sought a solution. Our partner Videocorp delivered it using AREC IR tracking cameras and several other brands.

The devised solution fully resolved the company’s needs. They redesigned the meeting rooms to be modular: when multiple meetings are taking place, the rooms work independently, separated by foldable walls. If a meeting requires more attendees, the walls fold, and the rooms become one. To capture the presenters and ensure they are tracked, each room is outfitted with a CI-T10 IR tracking camera and an AM-600 IR positioner. The simplicity in configuration and usage of these cameras makes them an ideal fit for modular rooms. The cameras follow the positioners in their field of view. They do not require zone configuration, face registration, or other settings, typically required by AI tracking cameras, so their tracking is not affected by different room configurations. Moreover, since the cameras only follow the positioners, they are not distracted by hand gestures, other people in view, or other kinds of obstructions. Tracking can be turned on, off, or paused by pressing one button on a positioner, giving the presenter full control over the camera at all times.

The presenters’ audio is picked up by Sennheiser handheld microphones, while ceiling microphones are used for the audience members. The combined audio is sent into the conferencing software. Presenters’ content and conferencing software are displayed by Epson projectors. Audio, video, and other elements of the room are controlled by QSC devices. The company’s staff can control projector screens, microphone audio, operate cameras, manage conferencing software, and perform other operations from control panels installed in every room.

With the renovated and adapted meeting spaces, the company is now fully equipped to hold effective meetings regardless of the needs of the day. Would you like to know more about how AREC solutions can be used to enhance conferencing rooms? Contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to arrange a discussion with you.

ADENA Hack: How to choose between AREC IR tracking cameras?

There are two AREC IR tracking cameras in the current product line - CI-T10 and CI-T21H. Both cameras rely on the same IR positioners AM-600 and AM-360 to follow the target, and have the same tracking range, so what makes them different from each other?

If we look specifically at their technical differences, then these are the main ones:

	CI-T10	​CI-T21H
Maximum FPS	30	60
I/O	Network, USB 2.0	Network, HDMI, USB 3.0
Working Modes	Either Network or USB, one at a time	Network, HDMI and USB, simultaneously

These technical differences are also reflected in price - CI-T10 is more suitable for entry-level and budget installations as opposed to the more advanced CI-T21H. Nevertheless, both cameras offer spectacular image quality and depth of image configuration.

If you would like to see and evaluate them yourself, don’t hesitate to request a personal demonstration via our website here, and we will arrange it when it is convenient for you.

Case Study: Kazakh National University expands with AREC

Dear ADENA Partners, this time we are sharing a case study from the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. This university is already an experienced user of AREC systems, and now, thanks to the assistance of our partner STEPLine and system integrator Alceza, it added AREC Lecture Capture and Auto-Tracking to the law department auditorium to record and stream classes.

The university, also known as KazNU, first learned about AREC in 2018 when it was looking for innovative learning solutions that could help it increase its standards of teaching and simplify its media work. Since then, it has purchased and used various elements of the AREC Media Capture System, including KL-3W, LS-2, and LS-200 Media Stations, DS-4CU Speaker Tracking Stations, and AREC MSR platform. AREC systems proved to be reliable and user-friendly, replacing previous software-based solutions with ease. Taking this positive experience and the advice of our partner STEPLine, KazNU chose to install more AREC systems in its other faculties and auditoriums, starting with one of the law department auditoriums.

For this expansion, the university purchased a KL-3WT Media Station and a CI-T21H IR Auto-Tracking Camera. The inbuilt screen of the 3-channel KL-3WT model makes it so that the lecturers are always aware of what is being recorded and streamed. The graphical user interface on the screen also helps the lecturers quickly adjust which video sources are used, start and stop recording and streaming, and export recorded videos on a flash drive among other functions. The station takes the video output from a smart lectern and a CI-T21H camera mounted on a wall bracket. Its third channel is kept open in case a document camera or a second computer is required. The combined videos produced by the station are streamed to the university’s YouTube channel where they are available via private links.

As for the CI-T21H, it makes sure that the lecturers are always in view of the camera and allows them to focus on the class at hand. Moreover, the camera stays on the lecturers even if students enter the field of view since it is looking only for the AM-600 positioner - a particularly important feature when it comes to tracking in lecture halls.

The new installation in KazNU improves the experience for both lecturers and students.

Would you like to know how your university can use AREC? Contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to discuss your requirements.

Text: Anastasia Yakimenko