The Innovations Showcase is a live think tank on the InfoComm show floor where challenges old and new meet fresh product ideas. Nearly 20 first-time InfoComm exhibitor companies populate the pavilion area, where the sciencefair air of discovery frequently prompts visitors to enthusiastically declare: “I predicted this!”
Debuting at the show in 2015, the Innovations Showcase also hosts the “Best Innovation” contest, in which a winner selected by attendee vote receives a cash prize and free exhibit space at the following year’s InfoComm show.
“The ability to actually get feedback on the floor from the people that attended is something that’s really valuable for those showcase participants as well,” said David Labuskes, CTS, RCDD, Executive Director and CEO of InfoComm International. “And it feeds that lifecycle of advancing the industry, in that you have somebody come in with minimal investment into the showcase, and then the next year they’re able to move to a full booth if they won, on InfoComm’s dime.”
Last year’s Innovations Showcase winner was Collaboration Squared (N2913), which received a $10,000 prize for its Ubiety Room software-only videoconference room codec, and is now on the show floor with its own booth.
Showcase standouts this year include Arria. Live, which has developed technology to make pro-audio endpoints “smart,” in that they self-identify and self-configure on an Ethernet network. Founded by former Intel executives with an interest in pro audio, Arria.Live eliminates the need for a mixer, as up to 32 inputs and unlimited outputs on a network automatically work together and are easily controlled via a simplified app that only shows the channel strips in use.
Other hardware and software solutions at the Innovations Showcase solve problems for a wide range of installation dilemmas, including the Dry-Wall Trapper ceiling-cutter solutions and Crystal Screens holographic technology originally developed for the aerospace industry by optical scientists.
