Create and Hang Out in Your Own Customised Online Space

AUDRIE TAN tries Kumospace to find out if it’s really able to enhance our virtual meeting experience.

Ms Yu Liu Ying, 18, a Ngee Ann Polytechnic business student, created her ideal “Luxury” meeting room with her friend using Kumospace’s customisation feature to tailor the meeting room to her “liking and needs”.

This picture shows the overview of the “Luxury” room created by Ms Yu and Megan which includes a garden, living room, study area and a bar. Screenshot by Audrie Tan.

“It’s very personal to us since this is what we created from scratch,” she says. This feature allows her to expand her creativity and to her, it’s an interesting experience as it’s her first time decorating a room with her friends.

As virtual meetings become normalised and more people are developing ‘Zoom fatigue’, a rising online platform - Kumospace - aims to make connecting online fun and as comfortable as in-person connections.

With ‘#kumospace’ garnering over 14.3 million views on TikTok as of Jul 30, 2021, I decided to give this gridless platform a try.

Kumospace is a video conferencing platform launched in late 2020. Apart from basic screen share, chat, video and audio features, it allows for meeting room customisation and the ability for users to move around the room like video game avatars. Features from games to music and virtual drinks are also available.

The wine glasses at the bottom left of our avatars is the virtual drinks feature, adding some fun in virtual hangouts. Screenshot by Audrie Tan.

Like other video conferencing platforms, a link will be provided to invite friends into the Kumospace meeting room.

Since Kumospace uses the web browser, installation of any application was unnecessary and it took me about two minutes to set up.

Ms Foo Yan Fen, 26, business development and partnerships manager of Unearthed Productions, an event management company, has used Kumospace for networking.

She says that the setup process is “quite straightforward because they already gave you fast login options”, and users can login with their Facebook or Google account.

“It’s almost like I didn’t need to create an account,” says Poh Qi Ming Megan, 17, a Temasek Polytechnic student.

An interesting feature of Kumospace is the ‘spatial audio’, also known as ‘proximity chat’. It simulates physical interactions as the further you’re from someone, their audio becomes softer.

Unlike Zoom, where the host opens breakout rooms, Ms Foo explains that ‘spatial audio’ allows participants to “go to another circle of their own to have their own conversation”.

To Shum Joe Yew, 17, student of Singapore Polytechnic, this feature makes conversations feel “more realistic” and engaging. If necessary, this feature can be disabled.

Pros and Cons

My favourite feature of Kumospace is the ability to customise meeting rooms to my liking. Not only is it an additional activity you can do with friends, it’s more enjoyable to hang out in a space we’ve designed.

If users prefer not to customise their own room, a variety of templates, including a park, office and living room, are available to choose from. Screenshot by Audrie Tan.

“I’d say nowadays, clients are all looking for customisation or how to make virtual hybrid events more customised and unique,” Ms Foo adds.

She says that Kumospace is suited for less corporate and formal events like networking because users “can explore the area”, making it “more refreshing”.

Furthermore, Kumospace provides games like ‘Chess’ and ‘Word Guess’, making meetings more interactive and immersive.

However, with benefits come limitations.

Megan says that the games don’t work every time and lack variety.

Using Kumospace for gaming purposes may not be ideal as the use of a web browser affects the game’s speed and smoothness, Joe Yew explains.

Ms Foo also says that Kumospace wouldn’t be ideal for live streaming as the ability for everyone to unmute themselves can be disruptive.

She adds that since participants can move around freely, it might be distracting and people who are less “well-versed with technology” may find navigating around Kumospace difficult.

Another concern is the limited capacity of the rooms since one room can only hold 30 people. However, Ms Foo explains that it’s not a huge problem as many rooms can be created to hold different sessions.

Ms Yu and I pretended to play the piano that was added to their “Luxury” room. Due to the friendly decorations, I felt welcomed by them. Screenshot by Audrie Tan.

“You can move around in [Kumospace] while for Zoom and MS Teams, when you enter a call you’re just in the call, that’s all,” says Ms Yu.

Though she thinks that Kumospace should provide more games as they’re what makes it different from other platforms, she’ll still recommend it to her other friends.

“[Platforms like Zoom feel] a bit too formal for friend hangouts, so Kumospace feels just nice for that,” says Ms Yu.

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Information Box

Create your own Kumospace account at https://www.kumospace.com/

Personal Rating: 8/10

Price : Free