A dedicated Zoom room with advanced home automation can save your professional image and retain your home’s privacy. As the number of work-from-home jobs began to skyrocket in the Covid climate, the conference room gave way to the living room as meeting central. One might think that doing business in the comfort of your own home would make life exponentially easier, but with that zoom comes a little bit of doom.
Take a peek into the serene work-from-home life of a Miami-based film producer as she implements smart home technology to design her perfect place for creativity and self-expression.
I adore my home. It’s my sanctuary, my safe haven, my nest. So when the lockdown occurred and my production company decided that for safety most of my job could be done remotely, I thought I had won the lottery. There were so many advantages, but one clear disadvantage: video conferencing apps.
The technology wasn’t quite ready for the pandemic. For the first month or so I would “attend” meetings in my dining room on my laptop. The first time I saw my self-view I was literally taken aback — and not in a good way. I kept adjusting the top panel of my MacBook in an attempt to get a decent camera angle, and my overhead lighting was casting disfiguring shadows on my face. Not to mention I was having to yell into the teeny tiny microphones and, in turn, felt like my colleagues were yelling back at me.
Then it hit me: my colleagues, whom I had never invited to my home in pre-pandemic life, were able to glimpse into my private space. That’s when I decided to take action. I turned one of my guest rooms into a dedicated Zoom room with top-of-the-line home automation. Then, I really had won the lottery.
My first step was to carefully curate my backdrop to convey my professional persona. A couple of bookcases with artistic pieces peppered in between rows of great literary works, a single hanging ivy plant, and an amber-lit Tiffany floor lamp. Elegant and tasteful.
Next I called the team at Acoustic Architects who took care of all the technology for me. They expertly installed Ketra and Lutron — the perfect combination of natural lighting engines and automation that adjusts throughout the day according to the position of the sun. My circadian rhythm loves me, and I look fantastic on camera.
Thanks to expertly insulated walls and strategic audio design throughout, I can use my normal voice octave, retaining my cool, calm, collected image. Soundproof walls aid in the maintenance of privacy, kept secret from the rest of the household — even if it is just my three dogs. More importantly, they prevent the annoying racket of the garbage truck outside from encroaching on the commentary I’m recording for the filmmaker’s track of our latest thriller.
Automated shades allow me to experience the tranquility of the Miami skyline on one side and the bay on the other — infusing energy that feeds my creativity. When it is time for a meeting, the expertly engineered window treatments lower to block out the sun and provide an extra sound buffer.
And the greatest bit of all — my 84-inch flat-screen smart tv has replaced the minuscule laptop image. This along with speakers perfectly placed throughout the room unchains my ankle from the desk and I am free to move about my space, which stimulates my creativity, and my posture thanks me as well.
When my production meeting ends, I use simple voice commands, and the gorgeous sliding doors magically open onto the veranda. The sun is setting over the Atlantic — a perfect way to end the workday.
Responsive Living, the term coined by Acoustic Architects founders, Aaron Flint and Spencer Hauldren, is the concept of seamlessly enhancing the client’s unique lifestyle using smart home technology. Responsive Living allows you to interact with your space via touch input, voice command, and predictive automation, placing you in full control of your home.
If you would like to learn more about integrating new systems into your smart home system, feel free to connect with us. We will be happy to schedule a demo with you.
For more information, visit acousticarchitects.net.
Like what you read? Spread the word and share on LinkedIn.