Date: Nov 1st, 2024

• Hosts now have an “admit” feature for meetings that require host approval, offering greater control over participant entry. To enable this feature, you’ll need to activate “Require host” in the workspace settings. Once enabled, anyone joining the meeting who is not an owner or an editor collaborator will need to wait in the lobby. The host must admit these participants individually before they can enter the meeting.
• Admins can now rename assets within Account assets.
• An aggregated view of ROI is now available on the analytics page, with filtering options by date range, user, or workspace, and metrics for cost savings, time saved, and CO2 impact.
• AI Topic Summarization: AI-powered audio summarization for Quick Captures is now available in beta.
  • Key topics from the audio track are automatically highlighted on the video timeline, displayed in the notes and summary panel, and included in printable reports.
  • Users can click any topic in the notes and summary panel to navigate directly to where the discussion occurred in the video.
  • Enable AI summarization by selecting "Summarized Topics" when uploading an asset from the camera app or web browser.
  • For previously processed assets, open asset details and select "Summarized Topics."
  • To request this feature, contact support@avatour.live.

Date: Sep 18th, 2024

• Improved toggling between 360 and 2D camera feeds when using a phone camera for closeups.
• The 360 feed now displays in the background with the phone feed overlayed, providing context for where the 2D view originates.
• Fixed a bug so admins can now individually delete assets from the shared/account assets. Previously, only bulk deletions were possible.

Date: Sep 12th, 2024

• Help section in info panel with button to relaunch tutorial

• On-site mode join button revisions

Date: Sep 10th, 2024

• Create a PDF or print-ready report from your asset's notes and comments. You can now export notes and comments from your videos as a PDF report. Whether it’s findings from an inspection, observations from a gemba walk, or key points from a training video, you can add notes directly into the video and easily share or save them for later.

Date: Aug 28th, 2024

• We have addressed a critical issue affecting web users, where the camera/mic permissions modal would disappear too quickly to be accepted, resulting in an error that the microphone was not found. This issue was most commonly reproduced on iOS/Chrome but could potentially affect other platforms as well.
  

Date: Aug 22nd, 2024

• Added a modal to guide users in accepting camera and mic permissions (top left) before joining the meeting.

Date: July 29th, 2024

• Minor Bug fixes

Date: July 26th, 2024

• Improved guest join flow: Following the invitation link now redirects guests to the lobby where they can enter their name before joining the meeting, eliminating the need to click multiple enter/join meeting buttons.

Date: July 3rd, 2024

The latest release introduces new features for admins. Admins can now configure default settings and restrict changes for users, providing better control over user experience and compliance.

• Default settings configuration for Admins
  • Account admins can now configure default settings and/or restrict settings changes for users within the organization. This gives admins more control over user experience and compliance.
• View account usage
  • Admin users can now view the last login date for all users, with accurate reflection moving forward.
• Background Snapshot Saving
  • Save snapshots in the background, allowing you to return to the live feed or the asset currently being presented without interruption.‍

Date: June 21st, 2024

• Spectator Mode Enhancements
  • Users joining as spectators will no longer be prompted for microphone and camera permissions, allowing participation without a mic.
• Share Asset Links Easily
  • You can now share a link to any asset in a workspace directly from the asset dropdown menu. Simplify collaboration by sharing assets with just a few clicks.

Date: June 6th, 2024

• Spotlight Tool Available
  • The spotlight tool is now available for 2D asset types (video, still images) and while presenting a secondary camera share or desktop screen, tab, application.

Date: May 30th, 2024

• Support for Blurring Faces in Offline Videos
  • Users can now enable face blur during file uploads from the web and operator app. This feature enhances privacy by automatically blurring faces in offline videos.
• Remove Background Noise from Offline Captures
  • Added option to enable audio noise removal during uploads, providing more control over audio quality.
• Increased Location Awareness
  • The operator app now captures location data during video recordings.
  • Location information is displayed for all assets in the workspace when available.
  • Users can now navigate to a capture location from the map view, making it easier to review video content with geographical context.
• User Profile
  • Users can now edit their first and last names directly in their profile settings.
• Enhanced Error Messages for Microphone Access Issues
  Providing clearer guidance for:
  • Permission denied
  • Microphone in use
  • Microphone unavailable

• Resolved Issues with Notifications During Meetings
  • Asset pause/resume notifications
  • Pause to add note in video
  • Notifications for forwarding or rewinding to a specific time in the video

Date: May 6th, 2024

• Edit/Delete Comments
  • Users can now modify or remove their comments on a note, allowing for better interaction control.
• Mobile Web Experience
  • Addressed stability and usability issues aimed at improving the mobile web experience for assets with video notes.

Date: April 24th, 2024

• Note-taking on 360/2D Assets
  • Add notes directly onto your 360/2D assets within the workspace, effortlessly annotating and providing feedback where they matter most.
    These notes are intelligently displayed on the video timeline, enabling you to seek to specific points when reviewing assets within your workspace or during meetings.
    Support for comment threads within notes, enhancing collaboration by engaging with collaborators, exchanging ideas, and keeping discussions organized.
• Shareable Links to Assets and Specific Notes
  • Simplify collaboration by sharing direct links to both assets and specific notes within your workspace.
    These links include timestamp, orientation, and location parameters, allowing collaborators to jump straight to the relevant moment in a 360° asset or specific note with ease. For public workspaces, no login is required to access shared links.

Date: March 17th, 2024

• Fewer Clicks for On-Site Mode
  • Reduced the number of clicks needed to join the meeting in on-site mode.
• Workspace Owner Information
  • The info section of each meeting will include the workspace owner's details.
• Shareable Links to Assets Within a Workspace
  • Allows you to share direct links to specific assets within a workspace, complete with timestamp, orientation, and location parameters.
    This means collaborators can jump straight to the relevant moment in a 360° asset, with the view oriented to highlight the specific area of interest.
    For public workspaces, no login is required to access these shared links.
• In-Meeting Participant Layout
  • The participant layout has been modified to consistently show 4 participants at all times.
• Other Bug Fixes
  • Various stability and performance improvements.

Date: February 19th, 2024

• Participant Removal
  • Hosts now have the capability to remove participants from the meeting. Simply hover over the participant's name and click the designated icon to remove them from the session.
• On-Site Mode
  • Introducing On-Site Mode tailored for users who prefer utilizing their phones primarily for sharing a secondary camera for detailed close-ups. This mode disables the 360-degree feed, and by default, mutes the microphone and speaker to eliminate audio feedback.
• Audio Stability Enhancement
  • Addressed audio issues specifically affecting users on iOS and Mac OS platforms. This fix ensures that participants joining from these devices no longer experience audio dropouts, resulting in a more reliable audio experience throughout the meeting.
• Offline Device Detection and Reconnection
  • Implemented detection mechanisms to identify when a user's device experiences internet connectivity issues, such as an internet connection drop. Improvements have been made to the reconnection mechanism, seamlessly reintegrating the device into the meeting upon reestablishing an internet connection.
• Improved Error Handling for Joining Meetings
  • Users encountering issues while attempting to join a meeting will now receive descriptive error messages, aiding in diagnosing and resolving common connectivity hurdles such as inaccessible microphone or firewall restrictions. This enhancement aims to provide users with clearer guidance and troubleshooting steps for a smoother meeting entry experience.

Date: November 29th, 2023

• Send Avatour Meeting Invitations with Your Preferred Calendar System
  Sending Avatour meeting invitations is now more flexible than ever. Take charge of your invitations by sending them directly from your preferred calendar system—whether it's Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook, or Teams Calendar.  

• Enhanced Asset Library with Search Functionality
  • We've turbocharged the asset library with search functionality. Easily find the assets you need before adding them to your workspace.

Date: November 6th, 2023

• Single Sign-On (SSO) Support
  • Avatour now supports Single Sign-On (SSO) with your organization's Identity Providers (IDPs). Contact our support team at support@avatour.live for assistance with integration.
• Multi-Protocol Support
  • Avatour integrates with AWS Cognito, offering secure, multi-protocol authentication. Log in using OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, or SAML with your preferred identity provider.

Date: October 10th, 2023

New Web Interface
We are excited to introduce a major update to Avatour on the web, offering a fresh and user-friendly experience for desktop and mobile users. With Avatour's new web interface, we aim to enhance your virtual meeting experience and streamline your interactions.

Here's what's new in this release:

• New Web Interface: Users will now see a brand new interface when joining an Avatour meeting via a web browser on desktop and mobile.
• Prioritized Meeting Content: Avatour now prioritizes your meeting content. This means that your screen share and close-up camera feed are more prominently displayed, making it easier for participants to follow along. When the 360 and close-up cameras are in use simultaneously, the participant can switch back and forth between the two feeds.
• Redesigned Interface: We've redesigned the interface to make it easier to find the tools you need, precisely when you need them.
• Optimized for All Devices: The user interface has been optimized for both desktop and mobile devices, offering a consistent and intuitive experience across platforms.

Date: August 21st, 2023

• Audio Output Device Selection: Users now have the ability to select the audio output device both in the lobby and during meetings.
• Mirrored Webcam Feed : Avatour now reflects your webcam feed in your view, while others perceive the non-mirrored feed. This aligns with standard practices in video conferencing platforms.
• Updates to ROI Calculator with Japanese Localization : Our Return on Investment (ROI) calculator has been improved to display the number of participants involved in calculations, allowing users to better understand the basis for the calculated ROI. Additionally, the ROI calculator now supports Japanese localization.
• Igloo Support Improvements: Igloo support has been improved with autojoin capabilities using URL parameters. Furthermore, Avatour now remembers the positioning and sizing of secondary camera feeds or screen shares for better placement within Igloo immersive environments.
• License Count Clarity: The license page now exclusively presents host users (also known as paid users), providing customers with a clearer view of their license allocation and usage. Viewer collaborators are guests (or free users), and exempt from usage calculations. Account Admins have the privilege to upgrade guest users to host status.

Date: June 7th, 2023

• New Workspace Interface
  • The asynchronous workspace environment has been redesigned to provide access to all the workspace settings and tools. Beyond the new look and feel, you can now manage assets, collaborators, settings, and schedule meetings, all from within the workspace. You now access a workspace by simply clicking on a workspace in your Workspace List.
• Public Workspace Option
  • Enable this new option in your workspace settings to make the workspace accessible via a link. This is useful for sharing assets with others outside of your organization without requiring users to create an Avatour account.
• Efficiency Report
  • Analytics for past meetings will now include estimates based on the locations of the meeting participants. These estimates include the amount of time, money, and carbon emissions saved by not traveling. Learn more about how we calculate these ROI estimates in our blog post.

• Meeting Chat
  
  • Analytics for past meetings now includes any chat messages that were sent during the meeting.
• Audio Only Mode
  
  • Web users with limited bandwidth may be placed into a new Audio Only Mode where the participant webcam video feeds are not displayed. This is to reserve as much bandwidth as possible for displaying the 360° video and participant audio. Once in this mode, the user will have the option to re-enable the video feeds if their bandwidth improves.
• Igloo support
  • Avatour may now be used inside Igloo immersive spaces, enabling a new form of immersion for remote teams. Click here to learn more.

Date: Mar 28th, 2023

• Workspace editors can manage assets (add/ edit / download) while in the asynchronous workspace environment
• Workspace editors can upload/add new assets from the Manage Assets modal in the Workspace Details page
• Archiving a workspace disables access to asynchronous mode and meetings within the workspace
• Indicate accuracy of participant location data within Analytics

Date: Mar 19th, 2023

Introducing Workspaces: a new way of organizing assets, meetings, and the people you collaborate with using the Avatour platform. Add collaborators to a workspace via email, granting them access to review assets asynchronously, without being in a meeting.

‍

Date: Dec 12th, 2022

• Chat notification sound

Date: Dec 9th, 2022

• Improve webcam resolution from participants joining from Windows laptops
• Fixed a bug that prevented switching between front and back cameras when sharing secondary camera from select Android phones

Date: Dec 6th, 2022

• Allow host to mute all participants from the web (under host tools)
• Individually mute participants within a session

Date: Nov 18th, 2022

• Asset Analytics

• • Hosts and Admins will now see statistics for assets on the Analytics tab, including the total number of assets uploaded and the number of assets uploaded by file type.

Date: Oct 23rd, 2022

• Presentation Window
  • Web users who present their desktop will now see the presentation window, allowing them to see what the other participants are seeing.
• Asset Player Notifications
  • Participants will see a notification when another participant opens, closes, pauses, or resumes an asset during a session.
• Better Snapshots
  • Participant POV Indicators are now excluded from Snapshots taken during a session.
  • Console
• Rename Devices
  • Admin users can now rename devices via the Licenses tab. Device names are a copy of the device’s serial number by default.
• Session Details Page
  • Session Details are now shown as a full page instead of a modal/pop-up, making it easier to view and edit the session.

Date: Sept 27th, 2022

• Add assets to one or more sessions from the asset library
• Upload new assets to a session from the session list
• Spotlight and Guest POV when operator streams 360 video projected as a cubemap
• Bug fixes
  • Display asset processing status within session details
  • Auto-scroll to first form validation error when a form is submitted

Date: Sept 19th, 2022

• New participant layout with higher resolution webcam feeds when there is no 360 stream, asset, secondary camera or screen being presented.
• Menu option to add assets to a session from the session list

Date: Sept 3rd, 2022

• Support for additional asset types (.pdf, .mov)
• Display progress percentage and estimate time to process uploaded assets.

Date: July 13th, 2022

• Spotlight  
  • The new Spotlight tool enables remote users (using a web browser or virtual reality headset) to highlight a portion of the 360° environment, allowing session participants to “point” and call attention to an area of interest. Other remote users will see the highlighted area to the side of their screen and can click on it to automatically rotate to the area of interest. The on-site camera operator will see the highlighted portion of the 360° environment on their device screen (Pilot camera or mobile device) as well as a preview of the entire 360° environment with an indicator marking the area of interest.

• Lock Focus 
  • A new submenu called Host Tools will be available for session Hosts joining from desktop. The first Host tool being introduced is Lock Focus which allows the Host to lock the view of the other web guests. As the Host rotates around the 360° view, the other guests’ views will automatically be rotated to match that of the Host, allowing the Host to direct everyone’s attention to a specific part of the view.
• Improved List View for Assets 
  • The in-session Asset window list view has been updated to show asset thumbnails and indicates which Snapshots contain Notes.
• Onboarding Tutorial in Japanese (web)
  • A Japanese version of the in-session tutorial and Avatour Console tutorial are now available for web users.

Date: June 16th, 2022

• Turn off camera when web guest exits the session
• Display positive feedback in analytics
• Update icons and text for in session controls to match VR client

Date: June 9th, 2022

• Device management
  • Devices can now be registered to your organization, rather than specific Host accounts. The licenses tab now shows detailed information about each registered device, the last person to use it, and when it was last used.
• Integrated Tutorials & Tips
  • Users will now have the option of receiving helpful tips when first joining a session or logging in to the Avatour Console.

Date: May 25, 2022

• Hot fix : Fixed issue that prevented using upper case text or symbols in chat.

Date: May 24, 2022

• Hot fix : Fixed from May 17th broke 2D and 360 snapshot capture.
• Fixed an issue displaying new sessions in console when number of sessions exceeds 150.
• Display event notifications (poor bandwidth at remote site, low battery level etc) during a session

Date: May 17, 2022

• Fixed rendering issues that caused vertical lines in the 360 degree video to appear wavy. 

Date: May 12, 2022

• Display bitrate charts within session analytics.  Line graphs show the capture stream bitrate vs quality of stream received by each of the participants. This data is useful to understand reasons for poor session quality - if due to poor uplink at the remote site or a result of insufficient downlink speeds at the guest location. When the guest has poor downlink, they receive a lower quality transcoded video feed.
• Support uploading image assets at up to 8192x4096 resolution. 

Date: May 02, 2022

• Fix a bug where joining a session as spectator from an iOS device displays a frozen image
• Web displays warnings when 360 camera bitrate or guest bandwidth drops. Added a debug option to the menu to display bitrate statistics.

Date: Apr 20th, 2022. 

• Spectator Mode (Enterprise customers only) (Beta)

• • Hosts now have a session setting for enabling Spectator Mode. When activated, the session is assigned a Spectator Code which allows users to join a session as Spectators via a web browser (this mode will be available to VR users in a future release). Spectators can see and hear all of the full participants, interact with the 360° environment, view any assets or cameras that are presented, and communicate via chat. Spectators do not provide audio or video and cannot present. Sessions with Spectator Mode enabled now have a limit of 30 total users, with a maximum of 20 full participants.

• Avatour System Status Page

• • Users can now visit avatour.live/status to view the status of the Avatour platform and its major components. If users are experiencing technical issues they can check this page for information before reaching out to support.

• iOS Bluetooth Fixes
  • A major bug has been fixed in iOS that caused Bluetooth audio devices to sound crackly or distorted when joining a session on an iOS device.

CONSOLE:

• Session Events with Asset Details in Analytics

• • There is a list of session events available when viewing analytics for a single session. Any event which involved the use or creation of an asset now shows a thumbnail of that asset with a link to immediately view the asset’s details.

• Device Information in Analytics

• • Information about the 360° capture device is now shown in the analytics for a session. This includes device model, software version, serial number, and location of the capture (displayed as City and Country when available).

• Total Session Minutes in Analytics

• • The Analytics home page now shows the total number of session minutes for all host accounts within your organization, or for a single selected host.

• Joining a Session When Logged In to Console

• • If a user is logged into their Avatour account in a web browser, joining a session from a new tab will automatically fill in their name.

• Account Admin Can Reset Passwords (Enterprise customers only)

• • Account administrators can now reset the password for other users within their organization. Useful when someone is having difficulty logging in or for restricting access to an account.

• Japanese Support for Password Reset

• • The password reset process is now available in Japanese.

• Detailed User Feedback

• • If users experienced issues during a session and provide a negative rating (thumbs down) they are now presented with a list of feedback options to provide more detail regarding what went wrong during the session. These details can be viewed in Analytics when provided.
• Clickable links in chat.

Date: Mar 16th, 2022. 

• Account administrator can reset password for users in the organization
• Fixed iOS bug where bluetooth audio is crackly and distorted. 
• Minor updates to Analytics on web. We now display location of participants when location access is allowed by guests joining the session. We present links to assets shared during a session. 

Date : Mar 3rd, 2022.

• Users are no longer required to mute when assets are playing. Implemented loopback echo cancellation of asset audio.
• Analytics tab within the web dashboard shows usage of the platform and a detail view that shows participants and timeline of events (join/ leave, assets presented, desktop / camera shared) within a session.
• Enterprise customers can request a URL (companyXYZ.avatour.live) and customize the experience for their guests by adding company branding, logo and background image. You need to be an account administrator to access customization features.
• Password reset : Users can now reset their password by clicking “Forgot Password” on the login screen. They will receive an email with a link to change their password.

Date: Feb 01, 2022

• Improved Participant List

Web users will now see VR participants in their Participant List as a high-quality 2D rendering. Not only does this look nice, it improves the performance of the web app.

We’ve also made the participant list expandable. Now users will see webcam views for the most active participants while more idle participants are shown in a list view, making it easier to see who is in the session. Speaking will move an idle participant into the active participant section.

• New Analytics page in the Avatour Console 

Hosts and Admins can now access session data via the new Analytics page in the Avatour Console.

The Analytics landing page shows aggregated data across sessions with the ability to click into single sessions for more details. Data collection for sessions will begin February 1st, and we will continue to expand on this functionality in the next release.

Date: Jan 4th, 2022

• Uploading multiple assets at once from the dashboard. Uploads are queued up and can be cancelled at anytime.  Transfer is automatically resumed if you upload the same file after accidentally closing the browser tab or window.

Date: Dec 28th, 2021

• Bug fixes 

Date: Dec 23rd, 2021

Bug fixes

• Host 'Mute All' is not enforced for guests that join after. 
• Fix labels that represent note positions in the exported pdf
• Other bug fixes

Date: Dec 3rd, 2021

• New Administrator Role
  • Avatour now supports a new user role: Administrator. Admins have direct access to new Settings and Licenses pages within the Avatour Console for convenient control of session settings, users, and devices. One existing Host license will be upgraded to Admin for all Enterprise-tier Avatour customers, at no additional charge.  Please contact your customer success manager to nominate the account that should have admin privileges. 
• Admin Settings Page
  • Admins can adjust universal settings that apply to all sessions across their organization, promoting security through proper usage of assets and the Avatour platform.
• Admin Licenses Page
  • Admins now have direct control over both Host and Device Licenses. Hosts and devices can be activated and deactivated, with the number of available licenses clearly indicated.
• Transfer or Delete Assets and Sessions
  • When a Host account is deactivated, the deactivated Host’s sessions and assets can be transferred to the Admin account or simply deleted.
• Exit Session Confirmation
  • Users on the web will now see a confirmation screen after clicking the Exit button, ensuring no one abruptly leaves a session by accidentally clicking Exit.
• Session Codes in Session List
  • The list of sessions in the Avatour Console now displays Session Codes below the Session Names, making it easier to quickly find the right session.
• Collection of Location Information
  • Location information is now collected for session participants and capture devices. This data will be used in future releases to allow Hosts and Admins to locate capture devices and view statistics on cost savings, time savings, and carbon footprint reduction. Avatour will never share customer data with other customers or any organization outside of Avatour. Read more in our Privacy Policy. 
• Export snapshots and associated notes to pdf format.
  • A host user can export snapshots and any notes pinned to locations within the snapshot to pdf format from their Asset Library. 

Bug Fixes: 

• Fixed a bug where the menu would not display correctly when viewing the Avatour Console on a mobile device. 
• Fixed a bug where cancelling an asset upload would disable the ability to upload more assets.
• Fixed a bug that prevented jpeg files from uploading properly during a session.

Date: Nov 14, 2021 

Bug fixes:

• Fix issue with invitation link that is copied to clipboard 
• Fix bug that prevented mobile web user from taking a 'Superfreeze'
• Clicking hide camera on iOS 15 kicks user out of the session.

Date: Nov 7, 2021 

• Warn guests to mute or use headphones when sharing video assets
• Improved time to join a session
• Fix UX issues on iPad
• Restrict asset upload to supported file types (png, jpg, jpeg, mp4, mkv)

Date: Oct 26, 2021

• Improve notes functionality
• Prevent shuffling of participants when active speaker changes
• Bug fixes

Date: Oct 17, 2021

• Adding notes in a session or from the library
• Display "You are muted" tooltip when the participant is speaking while muted.
• Move "Join Session" button to the top to increase visibility (without having to scroll).
• Single session type. 
  • We no longer make a distinction between live and pre-recorded during session creation.
  • Any session can include a live stream or pre-recorded assets or both.
  • Assets are displayed in a pop-up when there is no live stream and participant has access rights.
  • Revisit the session at anytime to review snapshots and notes captured during the session.
  • Host can additionally access or download assets from the library.
• Copy / share invitation link from within a session (under settings)
• Added "other" section for comments or feedback at the end of the session
• Revert displaying guest avatars for VR clients
• Bug fixes

Date: Sept 23, 2021

• Japanese language support can be enabled from your account profile or in-session settings
• Fixed bug where guest audio cannot be heard when they don't send video
• Highlight active/ or dominant speaker 
• Give host permissions to close assets shared by other guests 
• Other bug fixes

Date: Sept 5, 2021

• Take snapshots of a secondary camera feed (make a digital copy of a document shared using a document camera or a detailed view shared using a smartphone camera)
• Add notes to your snapshots. You can pin notes to specific locations in a 2D or 360 snapshot to capture audit findings or identify areas for further clarification.
• Camera & Mic Source Settings. Users can now manually select between camera and mic sources from the settings menu during a session.  

Date: Aug 7, 2021

• Take 2D and 360 Snapshots during a session. Snapshots get saved as assets and can be accessed from the library.  Access to snapshots is available only if host allows the guests access to session assets. 
• Resize or Fullscreen view of the asset window 
• Display timestamps for chat messages

Date: July 27, 2021

• Drag, resize, maximize shared camera or desktop modal
• Improve quality of secondary camera and screen share
• Improved Guest POVs by adding display name, offscreen indicators, click to reset view to that of the guest
• Full screen playback of assets in the library (Player is accessed from the Session Detail Modal)
• Added session parameter 'Require live stream'. When disabled, participants can use AVATOUR without a live 360 stream (for document sharing or screen sharing, as an example)