The DL30 will firmly track the teacher even if they move around in the classroom. During the lesson, even if a child crosses or blocks the teacher, the camera will still continue to detect and target the teacher. This is because AI inputs information such as coordinates obtained from the shape of the body (e.g., the position of the shoulder) and a vector such as the direction the target is heading towards. Even if the teacher wears a mask or has his back facing the camera, he can still be tracked.
The tracking function of DL30 has two modes. The first is "presenter mode", which automatically adjusts the whole body or upper body of the tracked target to the center of the screen. You can easily change the target via the remote control. The second one is "Zone mode". While the camera is automatically tracking the target, the angle of view changes when the target enters a predetermined shooting position. Unlike the presenter mode, you can focus on the content you want to share, such as the blackboard, and distribute as you like.
"During the class, we went around the room as the children work on their group assignments, giving them necessary advice while the remote camera kept track of us," said Okuma.
"I used to mainly use Zoom. One Zoom account can set up two screens at the same time. For example, I can set up one screen for the DL30 to track me while the other screen can project the whiteboard or display materials at all times. By using both "moving" and "still” approaches, you will feel like you are actually in the classroom. With this, I believe we can offer online lessons with almost the same quality as that of in-person."
It is said that children who participated online also connected with the class by wearing earphones. Since the teacher's movement and the entire classroom can be seen through the screen, it seems that the children who participated online could understand what their classmates were doing and could feel a sense of unity and connection with the rest of the class even from home.
For children who participated online, unattended screens can easily cause them to lose focus. Hence, from the viewpoint of maintaining the motivation to learn, it can be said that the benefits are high.
The DL30 is equipped with a high-quality camera with an optical 12x zoom. With smooth movement without distortion, it is possible to take wide-angle shots that capture the entirety of the horizontal blackboard, as well as medium- and short-distance shots centered on the teacher. There are two patterns, one that zooms so that the upper body of the person is in the center, and another that zooms in the center of the whole body, both of which can be executed by AI. Because of the high-definition image quality, it is also appealing to be able to clearly project the characters on the board even from a distance.