What is Gather?
Gather is a online social event platform which provides virtual spaces to bridge the distance among participants, and also establish a community network. “Gather” combines video-calling with a 2D map, letting us walk around and talk to people right next to us.
What you need to join the social event on Gather?
– There’s nothing to be installed, no software to be downloadad.
– A desktop/laptop with a mic and camera .
– A web browser (Chrome or Firefox recommended).
How it works?
– Gather is a video chat platform that has avatars move around a map. As you get close to other avatars, your videos will pop up and you will be able to chat.
– Move around the space using the arrow keys .
– By moving your avatar around you can have spontaneous conversations with those around you. These can be either one-on-one or small groups depending on how many people are around your avatar.
– When your avatar moves closer to an interactable object (e.g. informational flyers, playable arcade games, etc.), it will glow yellow and there will be a notification that shows up saying ‘Press x to interact with -object-’.
Icon Explanation
Special Features
– There is a messaging feature that allows you to message people in four ways:
1. individually by clicking on their name in the participant panel;
2. locally to the people you are video chatting with;
3. room chat (must be requested) with all the people in the current room you are in;
4. globally to all the people in your map.
– There is a locate feature to find others by clicking their name in the participant panel (option in your toolbar on the left).
– Want to full screen someone else’s video ? Just click on their video.
Technical Difficulties
– Refreshing the page will fix most things!
– If that doesn’t work, try muting and unmuting your mic and camera in Gather.
– Check if your browser permitted camera and mic access.
– Additional troubleshooting at https://gather.town/video-issues