Immersive collaboration of remote participants via media displays

An apparatus for digital collaboration, the apparatus comprising:

• a digital collaboration unit having a media display disposed within a first location;
• and
• one or more controllers comprising circuitry;
• wherein:
• the media display comprises an electrochromic display that is at least partially transparent to visible light;
• the one or more controllers are configured to display, on the media display, a media stream received from a remote processor, the media stream including a depiction of a remotely located remote user, to redact a background portion of the media stream from being displayed on the media display, the redacted portion comprising a region around the depiction of the remote user, and to enable a local user to view, through the redacted portion, at least a portion of the first location behind the media display;
• and
• the one or more controllers are further configured to display, within the redacted portion, a virtual overlay based on the first location, the virtual overlay comprising a depiction of an object, and wherein the depiction of the object appears continuous with a physical object at the first location.