Oblong Targets Zoom Video with Debut of Rumpus Multi-Stream Collaboration Video System

Oblong Industries just announced something called Rumpus, a new visual collaboration application for purely virtual teams. Oblong is marketing it saying that Rumpus makes web conferencing both content and context rich. It provides simultaneous access to shared screens from meeting participants, and delivers a new layer of communication with shared cursors, annotation and emojis for signaling sentiment. Rumpus leverages the insights the Oblong team gleaned over six years of work with its enterprise customers on Mezzanine, the company’s flagship product for expansive pixel-rich collaborative work in a room, between connected rooms and for off-site collaborators. Clearly, this is aimed at Zoom.

Here’s how it works:

Rumpus for virtual teams builds upon a particular insight gleaned from Mezzanine usage. In aggregated opt-in data from Mezzanine customers, Oblong has noted that 62 percent of the time when users are sharing in Mezzanine, they are sharing multiple forms of content. This means that most of the time, when given the opportunity to share content concurrently, people will. Rumpus is set to offer remote workers the same opportunity to make multiple streams of visual material easily and concurrently accessible. Rumpus also leverages gesture (pointing and movement via cursors) to focus attention, provide emphasis and communicate specificity. And to further encourage expression and participation Rumpus offers emojis, the language of the social web, to help “remoters” feel more connected and engaged.

Oblong invites remote workers and those who work with them to participate in the public beta of Rumpus and start making it the go-to place to collaborate. Visit rumpus.co to see if you’re ready to Rumpus. Mac platforms are supported, with coming Windows support slated for Q2. All the specs are at rumpus.co