What actually happens in a Room? From your first sentence to the review
Viatous, Rooms & Roomi · Équipe Viatous · 4 min
You’ve just written: “I’d like to read with someone for 30 minutes.” Now what? Who are these people, when does it start, do you have to talk, switch on your camera, stay until the end? Here’s what really happens, step by step. No surprises.
Before: your request and the search
1. You say what you want to do
It all starts on the home page. You describe your activity in your own words, or pick a suggestion. Roomi reads your sentence the way a person would: “run for 1 hour” is a duration, not a meeting at 1 a.m. If something is unclear, Roomi asks you a question, not a list of them.
Then you set what suits you: now or later, the duration, the language, and the format, online or in person. Often the activity decides: “run in the park” happens in real life, “revise English” online. A preferences for this Room button also lets you adjust, just this once, the language, the number of people, the age range or who with (for example “Women”). Worth knowing: the stricter a preference, the longer the wait can be.
2. The search begins
Your request is in. Viatous looks for people who match your idea and your availability. Meanwhile, you have two options:
stay in the waiting room and chat privately with Roomi, in writing or out loud (that conversation is not shared with your future group);
close the page and let the search run in the background: you’ll get a notification if a group forms.
If nobody turns up after a few minutes, Roomi says so honestly, with real numbers: how many other people are looking for this kind of activity, or nobody right now. Roomi then suggests widening your search, scheduling a time slot or trying a similar activity. And if your search ends without a group, it doesn’t use your free Room for the week.
Next: the group and the Room
3. A group is proposed to you
When a compatible group forms, you receive a proposal. It shows the activity, the time, the duration, the format, the number of people and how many have already accepted. At this stage there are no first names and no photos: people stay anonymous until everyone has said yes. You have a limited time to answer, 15 minutes at most.
You accept? Great. You decline? No problem: your search continues with other people, as long as your time slot allows. Even after accepting, you can still withdraw until the Room is created.
4. The Room opens
Once the group has answered, your Room opens with those who accepted. Now you see first names, and photos for those who added one. This is a waiting room: Roomi welcomes each person as they arrive and sums up the activity in one sentence.
Nobody starts the activity for the others. Each person taps “I’m ready”. The activity begins when everyone present is ready, or at the scheduled time if the minimum number of people is there.
Online , the Room brings together text, audio and video. The camera is optional, and you stay in control of your microphone.
In person , the group chooses a public place together from Roomi’s suggestions, and the activity starts at the planned time once the minimum number of people has arrived, or earlier if the whole group is there.
During and after: the activity, then the review
5. The activity, step by step
Here you go. Each activity has its own flow. A reading Room looks like this:
a welcome, where everyone says hi and what they’re about to do;
a short moment to get settled;
the reading itself, which takes up most of the time;
the review, then the wrap-up.
Roomi announces each step and the time left, and hands over speaking turns when the activity calls for it. The rest of the time, you talk among yourselves: Roomi answers when someone says “Roomi”. And if the group wants some quiet, Roomi’s “Pause” button does the trick.
Too good to stop? Online, during the last 10 minutes, anyone can suggest extending by 30 minutes or an hour. Everyone present has to agree; a single “no” is enough to wrap up as planned. And if you need to go, you go: you can leave the Room at any time.
6. The end: review, then close or Circle
At the end, everyone gives a review: a rating from 1 to 5 and one simple question, “Would you like to do this activity again with this group?” If everyone says yes, the Room becomes a Circle , a group that can meet again. Otherwise the Room closes, and nobody finds out who said no.
As for the free allowance, the rule is simple: your Room counts if you were still there when the activity ended. Leaving during the activity, a search without a group or a cancellation before the start don’t count.
Your turn
In the end, the best way to understand a Room is to be in one. Start with a very small idea. For example: “I’d like to read with someone for 30 minutes tonight, online.” You’ll see the whole journey for real, from the waiting room to the review.
Read the details on the How it works page (one completed Room free each week).