At 4 p.m. on Friday, June 16, the announcement rang through the Orange County Convention Center to officially close the InfoComm 2023 show floor. I had just squeezed in one last booth visit with display company i5LED—and that was after sneaking into Datapath’s booth to learn about its new VSN V3 video processor.
[Show Floor Insights: 3 Headlines from InfoComm 2023]
Yes, my InfoComm dance card gets full in a hurry, and then it gets overstuffed. I don’t see that changing anytime soon—just too much to see. And hear.
For example, I got to listen to the new IsoFlare series of ceiling speakers from AtlasIED. Beyond the amazing sound, I was impressed when AtlasIED’s president/CEO John Ivey went off script in the middle of the press conference and started talking fervently about a safety clamp on the ceiling speakers. I used to be a production guy—I’ve hung my share of lights, and I was incredibly steadfast in the use of safety chains (still am). I appreciate the quality of the new speakers, but I really appreciate Ivey’s commitment to safety.
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” That expression is usually attributed to management consultant Peter Drucker. Gilad Yron, Kramer’s CEO, brought it up during the company’s press event. He said part of the company’s new strategy was culture—supported by building a strong regional infrastructure. Kramer is also making a big investment in software, even though the company is still mostly known for its hardware solutions.
[SCN 1-on-1: AVIXA Industry Insights from InfoComm 2023]
Apparently, that strategy is working, with double-digit growth for the company in 2021-22, according to Yron. Despite some macroeconomic headwinds, he said the company is still experiencing double-digit growth in 2023, with the United States leading all regions.
Sustainability is also important to me, and it was nice to see so many companies making real commitments. Barco, for example, was showing off the second generation of its ClickShare CX-50. For those of you who didn’t get the demo on the show floor, the CX-50 enables wireless conferencing for meeting rooms.
Yes, the technology promotes meeting equity, and Barco was certainly touting its features and benefits. But the company had another story to tell: The CX-50 earned the CO2 Neutral Silver label from CO2logic, a climate advisory organization. The certification even included an external audit by an independent third party. Keep up the good work, Barco.
[3 Things Everyone Was Talking about on the InfoComm 2023 Show Floor]
Finally, let me call out two very different new products from the show floor that really impressed me. The first won’t surprise anyone who donned a VR headset for the demo. X-VRSE, XTEN-AV’s VR solution, lets you visualize and design your AV solutions in an immersive, virtual environment. Now this is how you take proposals to the next level.
On the other end of the spectrum was Visix’s Choros booking system. Scan a QR code at a shared space with your smartphone and book it. That’s it. Really. There’s no app to download and no hardware to maintain. It’s a cloud-based solution that uses AR technology to make it almost too easy to book a conference room.
What will they think of next? Guess we’ll find out next June in Las Vegas. See you there.
