Virtual background for online meetings

[mtbc]

It has been suggested that, on some occasions, I should be discreet about from where I am working. This seems easier to achieve if I habitually use virtual backgrounds in Teams, Zoom, etc., giving rise to the awkward choice of what background. Abstractly, I would prefer it not to be overly striking, not requiring comment, and it is fine for it not to be widely recognized. Though, somebody else at work uses a background that frustrates me in seeming to depict the interior of a room from a work of science fiction, either a bigger-budget effort from no earlier than the seventies, or lower-budget a couple of decades later, but I cannot place it, and I am not used to not being able to place such. Someday I may have to ask. Still, that kind of thing may be an option, among others.

Comments

[aldabra]

I was in a meeting yesterday with someone whose background was, I think, large random triangles in shades of white and light grey, but it could have been an attic room with sloping ceilings. That seems optimal: a plain background which is plausibly architectural but not identifiable.

Or, take a picture of what the wall behind you would look like if you were in the office? Presumably you'd be disguising WFH rather than being in the building.

Or take a picture of your most impressive bookcase and then fuzzify it so people can't see the details, if you're misleading people who don't know what your office looks like.

But be careful not to trust this too far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX7AyuCE1FE

[pink_halen]

A green screen will definitely make a difference. It will prevent drop out. The non green screen settings on Zoom cause parts of your head to disappear.

I have seen a variety of artificial backgrounds. They may be preferable to a messy office. The holideck is almost upon us.

[lovelyangel]

I do have a green screen and subject lighting (because – fussy photographer plus mildly NSFW wall art behind me). The green screen works great, and I do have a variety of backgrounds that vary from my own landscape photography... to Makoto Shinkai anime movie backgrounds... to Star Trek backgrounds.

However, the relatively new Blur Background feature in Zoom works really well to mask one's environment. I don't know if that feature is available in Teams or Slack or other videoconferencing apps.

[wpadmirer]

We've done that, but mostly to hide the fact that the room is a mess. (grin)

[mindstalk]

I mostly use astronomy or forest photos. Sometimes anime backgrounds (not featuring Cute Girls) or Lawrence Alma-Tadema paintings.