What is an Owl camera?
A Meeting Owl Pro is a camera, microphone and speaker which can capture a whole room. It will display a panorama of the room and will automatically focus on the speaker.
Where do I find them?
They can be found in teaching spaces with a capacity of 16 or more students.
Atrium: A001, A105, A108, A109, A110, A201, A202, A204, A206
James Hehir: H104, H502
The Hold: TH003, TH029, TH030
Waterfront Building: WLT1, WAD, W114, W116, W119, W126, W129, W209, W210, W211, W212, W217, W310, W312, W414, W416, W417, W418, W419
How do I use them?
The Owl cameras are ‘plug and play’. All you need to do is make sure that the Owl is plugged into the power supply, and that the USB cable is connecting the Owl to your computer. It’s best to plug it in before launching the video conferencing application.
The guide below walks you through the process of using the Owls to record your session in Panopto. There may be some settings you need to change if the computer/laptop defaults to other connections. If the computer is defaulting to a different audio device, go to the settings in the application and change it to Owl. The exact name may vary, but look for devices containing "Owl"
If the Owl is misbehaving
If the Owl is not working properly
Most of the time that the Owls are misbehaving, they simply need to be unplugged and plugged back in. Follow these steps:
- With the PC remaining on, unplug the Owl from the power socket (on the podium or wall, not on the Owl itself), and plug it back in.
- Within about 30 seconds, the eyes on the Owl should flash, and it will make a noise to indicate that it is working.
- If you had already started your Panopto session, you may need to select the correct audio and video sources.
If the above has not worked, check the default microphone and speaker settings for your device. How you do this depends on the device you are using.
If you still need help after this, please email learningservices@uos.ac.uk - someone is on rota from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.
There is the option to switch off the 360º view on certain Owl devices. If this is something you think would benefit your teaching, please conatct the Learning Design team at the email above.