How to capture a doctoral candidate defending his thesis while moving around the room—without anyone pressing a single button
Room 440 in the west wing of the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville is not just any meeting room. With its gabled ceiling, wood paneling, state-of-the-art acoustic treatment, and conference tables seating more than twenty people, it is the venue for the monthly meetings of all the business school’s deans and where doctoral students defend their dissertations before the faculty.
Two very different scenarios that share the same challenge: capturing everything that happens in the room with professional-quality results, without adding complexity to the user experience.
The challenge: free movement, professional-quality footage, zero complexity
Dean’s meetings are relatively predictable hybrid sessions: participants seated around tables, with remote attendees connected via Zoom. But thesis defenses are a different story. The doctoral candidate presents from the front of the room and then moves about freely—especially along the center aisle—while answering the committee’s questions. The action shifts unpredictably from one spot to another in the room.
Until now, the room was equipped with two Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2) ceiling-mounted microphones and a dedicated PC running Zoom, which served as a control and recording interface. The audio coverage audio excellent, but the video feed relied on a single static camera that was unable to keep up with the dynamic nature of a thesis defense.
The client's requirement was clear: radically improve video capture while keeping Zoom as the sole interface. No additional control panels. No software visible to the user. No training.
The solution: four Laia PTZ cameras and a software control center
Laia Technologies deployed a software-based multi-camera system that leverages the room's audio infrastructure:
Four strategically placed CPro Infinity cameras: two CPro Infinity cameras mounted on the side walls to capture the seated participants and the interaction in the central area, and two CPro Infinity cameras positioned at the front and back of the room to provide long-range tracking and a complete view of the space.
IAVS (Intelligent AV Software), Laia's intelligent software, is deployed locally on the Zoom PC in the room and configured as a virtual camera. IAVS connects directly to the Sennheiser TCC2 microphones and uses their audio tracking data audio define tracking zones throughout the room.
The result is a system that operates completely autonomously: it automatically frames the presenter at the front, tracks the doctoral candidate as he or she moves down the center aisle, captures the faculty members’ remarks during the question-and-answer session, and transitions seamlessly between the four cameras depending on where the action is taking place.
How It Works in Practice
From the user's perspective, the experience is identical to that of any other Zoom meeting:
- The user initiates a standard Zoom call.
- Select IAVS as the virtual camera source.
- The session begins.
There is no interaction with additional software. There is nothing to configure. There is no camera operator behind the scenes. All the processing runs transparently in the background. It’s exactly the same process as selecting a laptop’s built-in webcam, except that behind the scenes, four professional PTZ cameras are making framing and transition decisions in real time.
This approach was key to ensuring immediate adoption by the university's faculty and technical staff: no learning curve, no resistance to change.
Equipment Deployed
- Cameras: 2× Laia CPro Infinity + 2× Laia CPro Infinity
- Software: Laia IAVS (Intelligent AV Software)
- Microphones (currently installed): 2× Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 (TCC2)
- Video conferencing platform: Zoom (virtual camera)
- Production (optional): NDI → OBS / vMix
- Archived: Panopto (the university's lecture capture platform)
About Laia Technologies
Laia Technologies is a Spanish manufacturer of professional PTZ cameras and video conferencing solutions powered by proprietary artificial intelligence software. Headquartered in San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid) and with a sales office in West Palm Beach (United States), Laia designs, develops, and manufactures solutions that combine intelligent automation with maximum ease of use for corporate, educational, and audiovisual production environments.
