The world of audiovisual technology is evolving at a rapid pace, and the year 2024 promises to bring a new world of exciting developments that will transform how we communicate and collaborate. Join us as we explore some of the newest audiovisual trends that are shaping tomorrow's experience. We asked some of our team members what they were most excited about coming into 2024, here are their answers.
The idea of meeting equity will remain a relevant topic in 2024. With remote and hybrid work becoming the norm, it’s crucial to ensure that everyone, regardless of physical location, feels fully engaged in meetings. The trend of assigning flexible workspaces, or hot desking is gaining traction. Hot desking is the concept of allowing flexible usage of meeting and desk spaces. A key factor to the success of hot desking is the audiovisual technology and platforms that support the implementations. Zoom Rooms for Hot Desking is a versatile technology that seamlessly combines Zoom video conferencing capabilities with physical meeting rooms. Its unique benefit lies in its ability to guarantee crystal-clear communication for both remote and in-office workers. This integration ensures that all participants, regardless of their physical location, can engage in meetings with clarity and efficiency, making it an excellent choice for organizations seeking equitable and effective collaboration solutions.
"Tabletop 360-degree cameras have truly become a transformative force in the realm of remote collaboration," commented Ryan Malloy, an representative from Profound Technologies. Since the COVID-19 epidemic, tabletop 360-degree cameras have gained popularity and improved to offer a more engaging meeting environment. Multi-participant framing devices such as "The Sight" make sure that every participant gets a close-up picture. This camera technology encourages meeting equity by giving everyone, whether they work in the office or remotely, a sense of essential participation in the discussion.
“At Microsoft Ignite this year, I had the privilege of witnessing firsthand how the field of audiovisual technology is undergoing a profound transformation, all thanks to artificial intelligence," shared Trevor Depp, a seasoned professional at Profound Technologies. Looking ahead to 2024, it's clear that AI-driven smart camera integration is poised to become the new standard across various industries. These cutting-edge cameras have the potential to revolutionize meeting experiences in countless ways.
During a meeting, Auto-framing allows smart cameras to have the ability to automatically modify the framing to maintain participants’ visibility, even while walking around. This eliminates the need for manual camera adjustments and ensures no one is out of frame.
Facial recognition allows AI-enabled cameras to identify meeting participants, display their names, and even offer sentiment analysis in real-time. Meeting planners can use this data to understand attendees’ level of participation better and adjust their presentation accordingly.
Voice and gesture control allows smart camera users to control various aspects of their meeting, such as switching presenters, zooming in on content, or muting/unmuting themselves, all with a simple vocal or hand command.
While the following might not seem like an audio-visual breakthrough at first, let's talk about how Zoom introduced a few items that connect with its collaboration platform and offer distinct AI-related benefits.
“This year at Zoomtopia, two of the most significant revelations were the introduction of Zoom Docs and the Federated AI approach,” shared John Parry, a knowledgeable representative from Profound Technologies, who attended the event. Zoom Docs, is an integrated document sharing and editing tool. This upcoming cloud-based collaboration document platform is expected to resemble Google Docs. Soon, participants will have the ability to share documents during a meeting, removing the need for a single person to screen share while drafting content. Zoom Docs will be designed to work harmoniously with AI, allowing documents to be integrated into meetings.
This brings us to the Federated AI approach, available now to all paying Zoom customers at no additional cost. This method makes a variety of AI models, including the ones that need to be purchased, like ChatGPT from OpenAI, Zoom's own AI, and models provided by customers. The goal is to leverage the advantages of each model’s strength. For example, Zoom’s methodology might be more appropriate for generating chapter markers in a meeting recording, whereas ChatGPT might be better at summarizing sessions. With this Federal AI Approach, there is an element of caution regarding the accuracy. If crucial information is missing, then the value of the summaries suffers. A human would have to fact-check the entire output in such circumstances. Nevertheless, the benefit for enhanced meeting experiences and productivity is significant.
As we look forward to 2024, the world of AV technology is poised to deliver exciting innovations that will reshape the way we communicate and collaborate. Zoom Docs and the Federated AI Approach promise to make virtual collaboration even more seamless. Meeting equity and hot desking are addressing the evolving workplace landscape, ensuring that everyone has an equal voice in meetings. Meanwhile, AI and smart camera integration are enhancing meeting experiences by automating tasks, providing valuable insights, and enabling intuitive control.
With these advancements on the horizon, 2024 is set to be a year where AV trends truly transform the way we interact and work, making our digital experiences more immersive, efficient, and equitable than ever before.