The Next Evolution of Distance Zero: New Devices and Experiences with Cisco and Apple Vision Pro

Last year, we set a vision: Distance Zero; collaboration that makes it feel like there is no distance between you and your colleagues, regardless of how or where you choose to connect. You can sit anywhere in the world, and still experience the creativity, productivity, and innovation that thrives at the office. Since then, we’ve delivered hardware and software experiences with purpose-built audio and video intelligence that make it feel like you’re in the room, even if you’re joining a meeting from thousands of miles away.

We are excited to unveil the evolution of Distance Zero with the launch of new devices and features:

• Cisco Spatial Meetings for Apple Vision Pro

• Cisco Ceiling Microphone Pro – the industry’s first AI adaptive ceiling microphone

• Simplify IT management with the all-new Smart Diagnostics in Control Hub 

• Deploy Distance Zero experiences faster with Cisco’s new Workspace Designer

Introducing Cisco Spatial Meetings for Apple Vision Pro.

Leveraging your existing equipment, customers can turn any space equipped with a Cisco Room Bar Pro into a spatial video studio. That’s 28,000 devices already in the market, that are now ready to deploy a stereoscopic video environment. That’s thousands of customers, who just need to go update their software and get a Vision Pro, and their conference rooms are ready for spatial video – in 4K resolution and true-to-color.

This is what we mean when we say Cisco technology is future-proofed.  We’ve built devices that are ready for tomorrow’s collaboration experiences. We built a network that supports the bandwidth of tomorrow’s experiences. And we built a security portfolio that ensures the experience is protected. We are agile and we are ready for the future of innovation.

Spatial meetings have meaningful implications for businesses, particularly in the realm of design, instruction, and remote inspection. Why? Stereoscopic video significantly amplifies the experience of examining physical objects by including depth and dimension Imagine, reviewing intricate design decisions in true to color, crystal clear precision to better understand shades, hues or material choice. Imagine having reduced decision-making time by half if you'd be able to see the difference in various shades…

Let me give you an example of how we might use this technology on my team. Let’s say that we are designing an industry-first, adaptive AI ceiling microphone. I’m in San Jose, and you’re sitting on the other side of the world, in Oslo, Norway. If you hold up the microphone prototype to a Room Bar Pro, we could look together in stereoscopic video at its single connection point and discuss how audio over IP makes the device simple to deploy.

If you break the device open, together in stereoscopic video, we could examine how 64 microphones enable adaptive beamforming in any space. You could see three small speakers that release white noise to automatically calibrate with other devices in the room, so that working together, they know exactly where the speaker is in the room at any given moment.

That’s why Cisco Spatial Meetings and Apple Vision Pro are so incredible together. We can see the object, up close, in 4K and true colors, from anywhere in the world with remarkable depth and dimension. We can innovate together, learn together, experience together.

We’ve heard from customers that this technology has the potential to accelerate learning for remote students through immersive instruction. Spatial video can allow them to step into new worlds, effectively bringing the distance between professors and students down to zero.

“At H-FARM, we believe Spatial Meetings will transform both in-classroom learning and supercharge our online programs. The exceptional high-fidelity, true-to-color 3D immersive experiences will enable us to create dynamic and interactive learning spaces, where physical distance becomes irrelevant, and student engagement reaches unprecedented levels.” 

Riccardo Donadon, Founder & CEO – H-Farm

And, with Cisco AI Assistant for Webex now available on Apple Vision Pro, users can improve productivity with AI-enhanced capabilities to catch up on meetings, get summaries, writing assistance, and more.

Immersive audio, simple to deploy in any workspace: Introducing the Cisco Ceiling Microphone Pro

Basic camera and audio solutions are insufficient for today’s needs of the workforce. Nearly half of employees feel that meeting spaces aren’t effective because of AV issues. For these interactions to be as good as in-person, all participants need to be seen and heard clearly. Since the foundation of great video starts with great audio, our solutions are built to give voice to every person in the meeting room, and to put an end to the question: “can you move closer to the microphone?” Every participant can enter any workspace, sit down, and seamlessly be seen and heard clearly.

We are so excited to announce the evolution of Distance Zero audio: immersive audio in any workspace with the Cisco Ceiling Microphone Pro. It’s an AI-powered ceiling microphone with adaptive beamforming; it leverages built-in processing, combined with the intelligence of Cisco cameras and devices to enable immersive audio in workspaces of all shapes and sizes. Leveraging the intelligence of our Cisco devices, the microphone understands meeting dynamics and changes in room design, adapting to the changes without any need for reconfiguration.

Of course, these experiences are only possible if our customers can deploy them at scale. To make Distance Zero a reality in the hands of our customers, we’ve made a habit of making them simple to deploy. The Ceiling Microphone Pro is truly plug and play, with one audio over IP connection point. While traditional ceiling microphones require manual tuning, trial-and-error placement, and tedious camera tracking integration, the Microphone Pro communicates with and configures itself to the cameras in the room– deploying immersive audio in a matter of minutes. It’s a dramatic simplification for IT teams, so that every room across a global environment can be deployed with Distance Zero audio.

Like with our full portfolio of devices, Ceiling Microphone Pro can be centrally managed in Control Hub, alongside the room system, cameras, displays and other peripherals – eliminating the need for a dedicated 3rd party management tool, a simplified management experience for IT.

Empowering Cisco’s IT users: Introducing the all-new Smart Diagnostics in Control Hub

At Cisco, we have two key users we’re innovating for: the first is the people in the room, using the devices and applications. Our second user is the organization and team that is running our service.

We develop technology for both; that’s one of the ways Cisco has a unique offering in the market. As it turns out, we know a thing or three about networking and security. We understand the IT experience. So, the same AI assistant leveraged across the Cisco ecosystem is also available for Webex: a one-stop shop for IT with a simple user interface.

This year, we announced a step further in AI for IT, with the industry’s first AI-powered Workspace Ranking. By listing workspaces that require attention in order of urgency, IT teams can differentiate minor problems from significant fire drills. With it, we’re making it even easier for admins to identify, prioritize, and resolve issues proactively – before they become a fire drill.

We’re excited to take simplicity a step further, with the all-new Smart Diagnostics in Control Hub. Not only will Control Hub identify issues and make recommendations regarding which to solve first– powerful AI will now analyze the issue, draw up internal and external documentation, and suggest actions to resolve the issue for one or multiple devices. With just one click, Admin can resolve an issue occurring in 10 workspaces in under 10 seconds.

Design Distance Zero workspaces faster with the new Workspace Designer tool

We’ve made a habit of building experiences that are simple to deploy. We know that designing reimagined spaces takes a careful consideration of technology, and reviews from various stakeholders in IT, Facilities, and even HR. After reimagining our offices at Penn1 and worldwide, we consolidated our learnings into repeatable blueprints. We’re excited to unveil the next iteration of that, with the new Workspace Designer tool.

Inspired by our global offices’ modernization, the tool leverages Cisco’s experience in collaboration and technology to help you choose the right tools easily. Leveraging your customized dimensions or recommendations from Cisco, you can dynamically adjust table arrangements, number of seats, meeting platforms, and more. Like having a Cisco expert in your back pocket, the tool will make recommendations around audio coverage, screen visibility, and more.  With expert tips and recommendations, it guides you to create great collaboration spaces, avoid costly mistakes, and speed up workplace transformation.

Learn More

• How Cisco is using Apple Vision Pro to create the next evolution of spatial collaboration

• Experiences, Amplified with the power of Webex and AI

• Join Us for a Live Demonstration