We can read two to three times faster than speak or listen, so in verbal meetings like Zoom, there is conversational bandwidth that is not being taken advantage of. Our product, Portle, enhances online meetings by adding an accompanying textual layer on top of audio and video. Unlike traditional chat, Portle allows users to participate in parallel rather than sequentially. Our prototype web app looks like a Zoom grid view, but instead of webcams displayed in a grid, there are text fields, or “portals” for each participant and the host. Each user can type or dictate text into their portal and the instructor can also highlight portals to draw attention to them. We also have Focus Mode, where only instructor-selected portals are visible to the participants. For groups of twenty and over, Faction Mode splits the participants into subgroups of 3-6 that share a portal.
These features accomplish a few things. For one, people don’t have to take turns participating so that otherwise lost or forgotten ideas can get the exposure they deserve, allowing for greater breadth of discussion. Also, better ideas can be identified more quickly and explored more in depth rather than getting bottlenecked in a meandering exchange. Multiple facets of a single topic can be delved into and cross pollinate for a richer overall conversation. Finally, the instructor has foresight on what each participant wants to say before calling on them verbally, so the discussion can be guided in the intended direction.
We are already testing the prototype in real classes and iterating on its design, but our values and technology have broader potential than education. The long term vision for this project includes the development of a mainstream social media platform which builds on the parallel chatroom feature and takes further steps to differentiate from existing solutions. For example, an in-app point system based on NLP could reward users for responding quickly to people, introducing friends of friends, or having long deep conversations in Portle. Our goal is to craft technology that enriches communication, serves as a conduit for genuine warmth, and puts the user experience above all.
Testimony
“I think the most compelling argument in favor of Portle is that it has the potential to greatly increase and enhance engagement among users. Engagement is richer to me than just participation. And deeper. Zoom's main weakness - just like a traditional classroom - is the ability of participants to drift off or disengage. I think this app really pulls people in. You are totally focused on the screen because other people are engaged and chiming in all over the place. You don't want to miss anything. In a traditional setup, when So-and-so is speaking and you know their comment is unrelated or uninformed, you zone out and wait for the next productive comment. Here, you're actively looking for the best comments and ideas.”
Beau Everett, Vice President, Real Estate and Housing at NYU Langone Health