The collaboratories on the second and third floor of Hinds Hall are rooms set aside for meetings, video conferencing, team project space, and DPS Residencies.  The collaboratories have recently been upgraded to integrate a webcam and microphone directly into the room, as well as replaced the projector with new TVs.  

Collaboratory Layout

The image below has all of the primary collaboratory technology located on the wall below the TV individually labeled.

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The webcam has been directly mounted to the wall, and can be connected to a laptop though the USB hub located to the bottom left.

The Extron panel controls the video input, volume, and TV power.

The Webcam/microphone USB outlet is how the rooms webcam and microphone are connected to a laptop.

The Extron Panel Layout

The Extron Panel, labeled below, is the panel which determines the video input and volume for the mounted TV, as well as the volume.

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To Power on the TV Select "ON" in the display box.

To select the video input (laptop, HDMI, AUX Video) push the appropriate button in the Video Input Options.

• When connecting a laptop through a VGA Cable connect the VGA cable to the VGA input on the wall and to the laptop, and then select "Laptop" on the Video Input panel.

• When connecting a laptop through HDMI connect the HDMI cable to the HDMI Input on the wall as well as on the laptop, and then select "HDMI" on the Video Input panel.

If a device such a DVD player, VCR, or video game console wants to be connected to the TV the user has to use the AUX Video Input

• The Yellow input is for Video, while the white and red inputs are for left and right audio, respectively.

To adjust the volume of the TV turn the volume knob to the right to increase colume, and to the left to decrease volume.

NOTE: The TV volume is controlled through the volume knob on the Extron panel.

Video Conferencing - Plug and Play

The main feature of the new collaboratories is the ability to simply plug in 2 cables and then utilize the rooms integrated webcam and microphone.  

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The new layout is structured so that 2 cables conveniently placed in the wall are all that is necessary to hold a video conference. The user needs to connect 2 USB cables from the respective wall spots to their laptop and allow the driver software to install, and then everything is all set.

NOTE:  All of the cables will be located in each collaboratory.

NOTE: The Microphone is mounted to the ceiling and hangs roughly five feet above the main desk in each of the collaboratories.  

Adobe Connect Web Conferencing Notes

When web conferencing using adobe connect no other conferencing applications (ex. Skype, Cisco WebEx) can be running.  These program need to be ended completely or else the audio configuration will not work properly.

If you encounter an issue attempt closing the Adobe Connect browser page and re-opening the browser.  

Other Instructional Resources