ISE 2026 opens its doors tomorrow, welcoming guests from around the world Feb. 3-6, 2026, at Fira de Barcelona. That means we have time for one more inside look before thousands upon thousands rush the show floor. SCN wanted to get you ready for the show, so we conducted a series of short Q&As, to talk trends and pre-show buzz, plus give you an exclusive sneak preview of what you'll see on the show floor.
Today, Ken Frommert, president, ENCO, talks real-time AI captioning and live translation.
SCN: What technology or industry trend will be providing the most buzz on the ISE 2026 show floor?
KF: There’s no question that AI will dominate the conversation at ISE 2026, but what’s most exciting is how practical and immediate those applications have become for Pro AV. Across the show floor, visitors will see AI driving intelligent camera tracking, beamforming microphones, automated switching, and adaptive scaling. ENCO has been out front with real-time AI captioning and live translation, and these technology applications will be how AI is presented on our stand. The common theme across every hall will be AI’s ability to remove friction from production while improving accessibility, comprehension, and engagement.
SCN: What is your company’s main focus at the show this year?
KF: ENCO’s primary focus is to demonstrate scalable, automated captioning and translation across a wide range of AV and broadcast environments. We’re showing how content generated through our enCaption automated captioning solutions can be easily repurposed for multilingual delivery using enTranslate. We will highlight five use cases serving audiences in government, education, broadcast, corporate, and live event settings.
We’re also highlighting Raptor, our cloud-based captioning encoder, which gives live event producers a fast, flexible way to embed captions into streams originating from virtually anywhere. We will also showcase AIM, our AI-powered audio insertion manager, which automates the creation and distribution of spoken and visual messaging for digital signage across complex facilities, with the ability for integrator’s to use existing end point infrastructure. Together, these solutions reflect ENCO’s commitment to accessibility, automation, and operational efficiency.
SCN: What makes ISE a unique trade show for the Pro AV industry?
KF: ISE is unmatched in terms of its global reach, scale, and diversity of technologies under one roof. There really isn’t another show that brings together such a broad cross-section of the Pro AV, broadcast, residential, and professional audio markets in the same way. Compared to U.S.-based shows, ISE offers a wider international perspective and a deeper mix of verticals, from large-scale integration and broadcast to residential systems and advanced pro audio.
That global scope matters. It drives conversations about multilingual communication, accessibility standards, and deployment models that differ region by region. This will be our second ISE show. For ENCO, it is the ideal environment to showcase solutions that are built for global audiences and multilingual venues, and to connect with partners and customers who are shaping the future of AV worldwide.
SCN: How is AI improving captioning efforts for Pro AV installations?
KF: AI has transformed captioning for Pro AV in ways that simply weren’t possible a few years ago. Accuracy has improved dramatically, even in challenging acoustic environments, and latency is now low enough to support truly live applications. One of the most impactful advancements is AI-driven voice fingerprinting, which allows systems to automatically identify and differentiate between speakers within a single audio stream.
AI is also far better at recognizing non-verbal elements like music, applause, and laughter, which adds important context for viewers. Beyond transcription, we’re seeing AI enable synthetic speech generation. That includes re-speaking content in different voices or languages, or even creating entirely new voices for announcements. These capabilities make captioning, subtitling, and translation far more adaptable, inclusive, and effective across modern AV installations.
