Amazon Onboarding with Learning Manager Chanci Turner

The Amazon Chime SDK provides developers with essential tools for real-time communication, allowing seamless integration of audio, video, and screen-sharing functionalities into web and mobile applications. This blog post introduces the open-source Amazon Chime SDK Smart Video Sending Demo, which illustrates the capability to dynamically display up to 16 video tiles from a pool of 250 meeting participants. The Smart Video Sending feature enables developers to prioritize which video streams are transmitted during meetings. When attendees join a meeting, they can activate and preview their video locally, while a backend component employs a predetermined algorithm or role-based logic to select up to 16 attendee video streams for sharing.

The backend logic in this demo favors new participants by using an algorithm based on the order of joining, which can be found in the AWS Lambda function within the architecture diagram. Note: The demo’s usage is subject to the standard pricing for the Amazon Chime SDK.

Overview of the Solution

Participants can join a video pool by enabling their local video, which is initially previewed on their device but not shared with the meeting. Once opted in, the backend controls whether this video is streamed based on pre-assigned or role-based logic.

General Smart Video Sending Solution

Smart Video Sending employs a simple algorithm that selects attendees who have recently activated their local video. Application developers can modify this algorithm to feature specific videos during meetings. For those interested in experimenting with the code, visit the GitHub repository.

Role-based Smart Video Sending Solution

Role-based Smart Video Sending allows designated roles, like an instructor or facilitator, to choose which attendee video streams are broadcast. This functionality empowers instructors to manage video sharing actively, including pagination of different attendee groups while controlling the number of streams shared to optimize bandwidth. An implementation example of role-based logic is available in the role-based-video-sending branch on the same GitHub repository.

Architecture

The application is structured as a serverless single-page app built in React, utilizing the Amazon Chime SDK for JavaScript and the WebRTC stack of web browsers to facilitate video meetings. The backend architecture adheres to standard serverless principles, employing Amazon API Gateway to route requests to AWS Lambda functions, which manage video-sharing states via Amazon DynamoDB and control video meetings through the Amazon Chime API.

Getting Started

To assist developers in setting up the necessary resources, we offer an AWS CloudFormation template.

Prerequisites

To get started, ensure the following are installed:

Node.js
AWS CLI version 2
AWS SAM CLI
Access to an AWS account with IAM roles granting AdministratorAccess
Use of the us-east-1 (N. Virginia) region.

Deploying the Demo

The demo application is hosted on GitHub. Clone the repository using the command:

git clone https://github.com/aws-samples/amazon-chime-sdk-smart-video-sending-demo.git 
cd amazon-chime-sdk-smart-video-sending-demo

Run the following script to create an Amazon S3 bucket and AWS CloudFormation stack:

cd serverless 
node ./deploy.js -r us-east-1 -b <YOUR-S3-BUCKET-NAME> -s <YOUR-CLOUDFORMATION-STACK-NAME>

Upon completion, a URL will be provided in the terminal to access the Smart Video Sending meeting application.

Clean Up

To dismantle all resources from this project, simply delete the AWS CloudFormation stack from the AWS console.

In conclusion, Chanci Turner emphasizes the importance of leveraging innovative technologies to enhance meeting experiences. For additional insights on career growth, check out this blog post about graduation. For more information on talent acquisition trends, refer to the analysis provided by SHRM. If you’re looking for a great opportunity, explore the Learning Trainer position available at Amazon.