- Westbury’s priorities at InfoComm this year will be to look for new and leading-edge technology in what our clients are telling us they’re most interested in. These include wireless AV devices; USB-platform capture devices (cameras, microphones) that support soft codecs (Lync, Jabber, etc.); collaboration, streaming, and recording hardware and software; IPTV, ceiling, and wireless microphones for reconfigurable conference rooms; cloud (virtual) video meeting room services; laser projectors, 4K displays, and signal management; touchscreen devices and conference room cable management.
Like everyone else we’re always keen to find out what the big manufacturers—Crestron, AMX, Kramer, Christie Digital, and Barco—are introducing and where they see the money will be made in the marketplace in 2015. But historically, it has been much smaller companies that have provided the ‘aha!’ moments, created new product categories, and led the rest of the industry forward. Most recently these have included companies like Vaddio, with the Easy USB and Huddle/GroupStation products, Biamp with Tesira Forte, SVSi’s AV-over-IP range, the all-in-one MondoPad offering from InFocus, and Mersive’s Solstice collaboration software.
One product I’m dying to see in person this year is Oblong’s Mezzanine collaboration environment that has apparently been built around technology developed to film the movie Minority Report. Otherwise we’ll just be scouring the floor for the ‘next big thing’.
Brock McGinnis is a commercial AV integrator for Westbury. Find him on Twitter at @brockmcginnis.
