Provided is a system and associated method that allow meeting participants to maintain a basic awareness of the audio and visual content of a meeting using a wearable device, such as a smartwatch, well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art. Embodiments of the described system and method also provide essential interaction mechanisms such that the remote, mobile users can interact with the distributed meeting without distracting them from their other tasks. In one embodiment, the described techniques provide an unobtrusive way for users to participate in ongoing distributed meetings using a smartwatch-based interface for a video conferencing application.