What Is Zoom Immersive View?
A simple step-up from the usual virtual Zoom meetings, the immersive view option in this amazing video calling application allows all participants to virtually assemble in a location like a classroom, coffee shop, conference room, etc.
It also gives the host freedom to resize participants and place them in the scene, provided they have the Zoom version 5.6.3. Zoom finally launched its immersive feature at the end of April 2021. The feature was announced at Zoomtopia, last year and has now been rolled out for Mac and iOS desktop clients.
The new feature allows attendees to virtually assemble in a boardroom, classroom, art gallery, or other places. It can accommodate up to 25 participants in the virtual space, replacing the static flat background.
Add Your Own Background
It has built upon the existing features of the platform and offered an upgraded method of organizing meetings online from the looks of it.
The setting can accommodate 25 people, but if there are more people in the meeting, the rest will be shown as a strip on the top of the screen. Zoom has given a few scenes to help kickstart the use of this feature. Alternatively, one can upload the scene they want to use during the meeting.
You can use almost any background to create an immersive experience. For optimal results, Zoom recommends that aspect ratio, virtual background, and resolution recommendations be matched. To use the immersive feature, users must also have the latest version of Zoom.
How to Use Zoom Immersive View
Follow the simple steps below to enjoy your meetings with Zoom’s immersive view:
Start the Zoom Meetings application on your desktop. On the top right corner of the screen, you can see the option for Immersive View. It appears right where the option for Speaker or Gallery View is present. After clicking that button, the meeting participants will appear as a part of the desired virtual background. Just make sure that you use the updated version of the Zoom Meetings application.
Zoom Immersive View: Unique Features
There are many more features to Zoom’s immersive view. Here are some of them:
One Size Fits All
There are no minimum requirements for the number of people on this feature. Therefore, you can arrange a ceremony or simply conduct an interview, and the type or size of the meeting shall not be a problem.
Upload Your Own Scenes
Zoom provides several backgrounds for immersive meetings. But you can also upload scenes you like and use them during meetings.
Just click on Immersive, you can use the plus icon to upload your custom scene. As an alternative, you can also click on Use my Video as the Immersive Video and add participants to your background.
The Host Can Steal the Show
Only the host can change the settings or background of the immersive view. This ensures that there are no disruptions or mishappenings during the meeting.
The Virtual Seating Plan Can Be Changed
The best feature yet is that you can change the seating and placement of participants in the meeting. This feature is great in the case of seating charts and any sort of ordering requirements. You can also disable auto-population in the settings and place the attendees in the scene all by yourself if need be.
Change the Size of Speaker Boxes
Since the host has the most power in immersive features, they can also control the size of the participants as per the need of the meeting. This can be done to make space for late arrivals or customize the participants as per hierarchy.
Zoom Immersive View: Commonly Asked Questions
How Can I Access the Immersive View on Zoom?
Zoom Immersive view has been enabled on all free and single Pro accounts that use Zoom 5.6.3 or higher. You can enable it on web portals for all the other account types. In addition, the immersive view feature is available for Windows 10 and iOS desktop clients all over.
What if Some Participants Have Older Versions of Zoom?
Those who are on desktops or use mobile apps not supporting immersive view will see the participants in a gallery or speaker view with a black background. Others in the meeting, who have this new feature, will only see those participants as part of the Immersive View background.
What Happens When the Host Shares Their Screen?
When you share your screen on Zoom Meetings, the immersive view will be replaced by the screen. The immersive view will occupy the screen as soon as the screen sharing stops.
How Does It Work During a Webinar?
During a webinar, the host can arrange for the panelists and the host to be present in the immersive view on the virtual background. The attendees will just be viewing the scene with panelists and the host on the virtual background.
Will Immersive View Show Up in Meeting Recordings?
The recording of immersive view is not supported by the software yet. Cloud and local recordings will depend on the cloud recording settings. In recordings, the view will most likely either be speaker or gallery view, depending on the settings used before immersive view.
Make Meetings Fun With Zoom Immersive View
Immersive view by Zoom is a cool new feature introduced by the video-conferencing giant. However, there are significant limitations to this immersive meetings feature.
Users of an older Zoom version will probably see all meeting participants with black backgrounds or gallery boxes. As a result, one colleague can be sitting in a plush virtual conference room, and another colleague can be observing colleagues on a screen in boxes.
Microsoft and Skype, two major competitors for Zoom, launched their own versions of immersive meetings in 2020! For better placements and meetings, Microsoft Teams and Skype also employ computer vision features to cut out faces and shoulders.
