InfoComm 2024 Impulses: ENCO Talks AI and Virtual Production

The ENCO logo over the InfoComm 2024 Impulses design.
(Image credit: ENCO)

InfoComm 2024 heads back to the Las Vegas Convention Center this June 8-14. As we have in the past, SCN turned to several InfoComm 2024 exhibitors to talk trends, technology, inspiration, and an exclusive special sneak preview of what they’ll show in their booths.

[Follow the ROAD TO INFOCOMM 2024 at AV Network] 

In today's addition to the InfoComm 2024 Impulses series, meet Ken Frommert, president, ENCO.

Ken Frommert of ENCO hosting a podcast in front of a hanging mic.

(Image credit: ENCO)

SCN: What technology or industry trend do you expect to be the talk of InfoComm 2023?

Ken Frommert: AI will be the dominant trend. Manufacturers in the AV space are applying AI in many different and creative ways. We see strong opportunity in the AV community for AI in the speech-to-text conversion realm, especially for live events and staging. That includes captioning as well as real-time, multi-lingual translations to engage a wider audience.

SCN: What is your company’s main focus at the show this year?

KF: We will showcase our real-time Qimera virtual production system with an emphasis on its AR, VR and XR capabilities powered by Unreal Engine. We’ll provide visitors to our booth with insights on how its all-in-one package can support a variety of use cases. One example is how corporate clients can apply AR graphics for their video productions and leverage the entire ecosystem for their internal communications as well as external streams.

Our other priority is using our enCaption Sierra system for automated live captioning conversion, which we debuted at NAB. We also show how our enTranslate plug-in for Sierra effectively handles on-the-fly content translation and furthermore can provide overdubs using AI voices. InfoComm also marks the official debut  of AiM, our new text-to-speech product, which uses synthetic voice for instant audio creation.

SCN: How does InfoComm inspire you?

KF: We find inspiration in learning about the projects that our customers and partners are working on, and the latest trends that exist outside of our primary focus areas. We enjoy the process of learning how we can leverage technologies in new and innovative ways that solve problems and create more holistic solutions that benefit our customers. There is also networking element that is instrumental to relationship building over time. InfoComm provides a venue for all of the above.

SCN: How does AI improve live captioning?

KF: AI allows us to leverage large language models and unsupervised learning to improve the quality and accuracy of captions and translations in ways that come very close to or even exceed the level of service that humans can provide in real-time.

Wayne Cavadi
Senior Content Manager

Wayne Cavadi is the senior content manager of Systems Contractor News. Prior to taking a leap into the Pro AV industry, Wayne was a journalist and content lead for Turner Sports, covering the NCAA, PGA, and Major and Minor League Baseball. His work has been featured in a variety of national publications including Bleacher Report, Lindy's Magazine, MLB.com and The Advocate. When not writing, he hosts the DII Nation Podcast, committed to furthering the stories and careers of NCAA Division II student-athletes. Follow his work on Twitter at @WayneCavadi_2 or the SCN mag Twitter page.