I got a ton of signups to Complice yesterday via the IndieHackers HN launch (<a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12269425" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12269425</a>) so I thought it would be cool to see if we could coalesce a new little community of people doing pomodoros (25/5 work/break periods) together online.<p>One of my favorite features of HN is that it lets you limit how much time you spend on it per day. I love systems that work with the users' interests in mind, and I think that this coworking chat does so more than almost any other chat app, because it has clear work periods where people can be productive.
Cool idea, hope it gets traction.<p>Somewhat related: I think VR is going to be huge for coworking. If you've used BigScreen (<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/457550/" rel="nofollow">http://store.steampowered.com/app/457550/</a>) you'll know what I'm talking about. While you can't see peoples faces yet, and resolution in VR is still low, it really does feel like you're working right next to somebody, and I could see it be a thing.
I tried some experiments like this between hackerspaces in Austin and Houston. What I found is that there is little engagement, unless images are "eye level" and at the apparent size of a present person. I'm not sure how well this would work with video chat on the desktop.
This is a fun app! I love the restrictions of no audio and disabling chat during work periods. Good work!<p>A nice excuse to try out pomodoros again, too.
Some time ago I saw this similar project posted on HN:<p><a href="http://lapface.com/" rel="nofollow">http://lapface.com/</a><p>Here's the thread I saw:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9764241" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9764241</a>
Like someone else said, I enjoy the silent cams and any chatting occurring only during the breaks. Even if you don't care for the pomodoro technique, it can still be nice to sometimes use the breaks of the app as your own breaks.
two years ago we built something similar during the rails rumble: <a href="http://www.higuys.io" rel="nofollow">http://www.higuys.io</a>