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It’s very likely that, within arm’s reach, there are multiple devices that would allow you to communicate with just about anyone on the planet. Yet, according to Joe Pham, Chairman and CEO of QSC | Q-SYS, it has never been more difficult to keep employees connected and engaged.
If I learned one lesson at InfoComm 2024, it’s that AI can solve that problem.
Everything Has Changed
Pham’s keynote speech at InfoComm 2024, titled “Everything Has Changed”, focused on the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) will have (and already is having) on the audiovisual (AV) industry and broader society. He emphasized that AI is not just a trend, but a foundational technology that will have a more profound impact on humanity than previous technological revolutions like fire, electricity, and the Internet.
Pham spent the first half of the keynote emphasizing the rapid acceleration of technological advancements over time by tracing the history of human innovation. He pointed out that, while innovations once took thousands of years, we are now seeing major disruptions and advancements yearly. This accelerating pace will only go faster with the passage of more time. Think of it like this: it took us thousands of years to get from fire to farming; 66 years to get from the Wright Brothers to Apollo 11; about 30 years to get from the PC to the smartphone; and only one year to get from obviously fake deepfakes of Will Smith eating spaghetti to highly convincing deep fakes of anyone. Who knows what new kind of magic AI will be able to conjure up in six months?
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| Joe Pham demonstrates the progress that generative AI has made in one year. |
Pham noted the cruel irony that, while we have more technology than ever before to remain connected with each other, it’s increasingly difficult to keep employees engaged and connected. According to Pham, employees in “low belonging” are more likely to experience stress, burnout, loneliness, anxiety, and depression. This is a $406 billion dollar a year problem for employers.
Emphasizing the crucial role that AV technology providers play in fostering these vital connections, Pham urged systems integrators to leverage AI capabilities to bridge gaps, create immersive experiences, and foster genuine human connections in an increasingly digital world. Here are key areas he identified for potential AI-driven advancements:
- Audio AI: Improvements in quality and context awareness (e.g., noise reduction or event detection) to help workers be heard
- Video AI: Enhancements in video quality and context awareness (e.g., auto-switching or gesture analysis) to help employees be seen
- Control AI: Intelligent control systems capable of understanding human intent and responding accordingly
- Data AI: Predictive analytics and self-healing systems leveraging vast amounts of enterprise data
- Workflow AI: Generative AI tools improving design and management processes, enhancing consistency and quality
- Generative AI: New creative possibilities in content generation, such as digital signage and interactive experiences
On the Floor, Everything Had AI: 3 Examples
The AV channel isn’t immune from AI fever. Everything from cameras and microphones to full blown smart meeting rooms and conferencing software had some sort of AI. Even the show’s app had AI (actually, this was very neat—instead of drilling through menus and scrolling to the information you need, you could simply ask the integrated chatbot a question, and it would dutifully answer).
Solving Hybrid Meetings With AI
While AI isn’t fundamentally changing the way that we hold meetings (yet), it is ironing out the wrinkles that make it difficult for employees to stay connected and engaged within digital spaces. Take hybrid meeting environments, for example. Remote participants are relegated to a tiny little box in the corner…if they are displayed on the screen at all. Their view of the action isn’t much better, especially as the size of the meeting space increases. They might be able to see who is talking, but they won’t be able to see fine details like non-verbal communications or a complementary visual element that brings additional context to the conversation. Contributing to the conversation is made even more difficult when given the disparity in audio quality and volume between remote and in-person participants.
Huddly Crew is one example of how AI solves for these problems. Its Director Mode uses AI to automatically switch to the optimal view in multi-camera setups based on who is speaking, ensuring that no one misses out on vital non-verbal communications. Huddly also introduced a few new features at InfoComm 24, including Perspective Correction and Framing Zone. The former uses AI to correct lens distortion in real time (if the camera adds 10 pounds, then this removes it), while the latter removes people from outside of a defined zone from appearing on screen.
Enhance User Experiences with AI
In workplaces and educational institutions, managing and utilizing space effectively can be a significant challenge. Often, employees and students waste valuable time searching for available rooms or workstations due to a lack of real-time information on space availability. Additionally, navigating large facilities can be daunting without clear directories or interactive maps. These inefficiencies lead to underutilized resources and frustration, and collectively hinder productivity and efficient space utilization.
To mitigate these problems, organizations turn to space management and booking solutions, such as Choros by Visix. It leverages augmented reality (AR) to enhance the process of finding and reserving spaces in workplaces and other environments. Users can visualize available spaces through AR, making it easier to find and book them. Users can leverage detailed maps and directories of available spaces to simplify navigation within large facilities.
During InfoComm 24, reps were showing off their new touch-free user experience. You can interact with a smart display using hand gestures without having to touch the display at all. You can check out a demo in the video below.
Optimize Business Operations With AI
The use of AI wasn’t limited to the AV equipment that gets used by end-users—we are also seeing the use of AI to optimize time consuming, error-prone business operations associated with deploying and maintaining AV systems within your customers’ environments. Take XTEN-AV, developer of X-Draw, for example. At their booth, reps from the company showed off how X-Draw uses AI to generate schematics and suggest equipment based on systems requirements. It also uses AI to find mistakes (like the usage of an invalid connection) and optimize drawings to maximize performance.
Keypoint Intelligence Opinion
Out of the hundreds of office technology providers that we surveyed in Keypoint Intelligence’s 2024 Channel Primary Research Study, none of them said “Customers are resisting hybrid work forms and don’t want to invest.” This means two things: The first is that remote and hybrid work is here to stay; the second is that there is a healthy demand for conferencing and collaboration technologies. Why the second? Well, in previous end-user studies, Keypoint Intelligence found that hybrid workers were more likely to experience problems when collaborating with others. If your customers plan on embracing the hybrid working model, then they will need the requisite technology in place to enable an effective implementation of hybrid working.
And that’s what will make AI so important. The rapid advancement of AI capabilities is revolutionizing the way we connect and engage with each other. AI is smoothing out the complexities of digital interactions, making it easier for people to communicate and collaborate effectively. It is imperative that office technology providers take the lead in bringing these AI advancements to their customers. By leveraging AI technology, office technology providers can create immersive and intuitive experiences that foster genuine human connections in a digital world. Whether it’s through optimizing hybrid meetings, enhancing user experiences, or streamlining business operations, AI provides the tools needed to solve modern connectivity problems.
Office technology providers have the unique opportunity to be the catalysts for this transformation, ensuring that their customers benefit from the latest technological innovations. By staying at the forefront of AI developments, you can help their clients navigate the digital landscape and achieve greater levels of connection and engagement.
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