Cindy Davis’ Top 5 Trends from InfoComm 2022

AV Technology's Cindy Davis at InfoComm 2022

AV Technology's Cindy Davis rode a digital wave at the INFiLED booth during InfoComm 2022 (Image credit: Future)

As I reviewed my mental notes from InfoComm 2022, five trends coalesced. In the coming days, I will dive deeper into some of these topics, but I wanted to share this top-level with you. There were 557 exhibitors, and I could only see a fraction of them. I would love to hear from you about what trends you saw.

Can You Say Collaboration?

Of the 557 exhibitors listed on the InfoComm22 site, 201 were listed as having conferencing and collaboration solutions. Frankly, I’m surprised it was that few.

Companies known for their audio products showed cameras and integrated audio and video bars for the first time. Not yet seen in the US, Biamp presented its line of Parlé audio and video conferencing bars, Vidi conferencing cameras, and MuxLab’s MuxMeet Videobar came out of the shadows. And for companies such as Epson that do not have an integrated video conferencing product, they are working with Microsoft and partnering with companies such as Jabra to offer a complete Teams Rooms solution.

Furniture companies such as Salamander have designed tables to maximize the viewing angle of meeting participants. Its Infiniti table is wedge-shaped, making it easy for the far end to see everyone seated.

Epson meeting room solutions — Epson is working with Microsoft and partnering with companies such as Jabra to offer a complete Teams Rooms solution. (Image credit: Future)

Bullish on Shipping

Supply chain issues are a fact of life in every industry and will continue for the foreseeable future. Despite that, many manufacturers were broadcasting that they have products in stock and shipping. Yamaha UC wanted to ensure you didn’t miss that message, so the staff was wearing flashing buttons “We Have Stock.”

AtlasIED’s vice president of Sales, Michael Peveler, was quick to point out that except for three Dante-enabled speakers which will be available in Q4, everything else they were showing in the booth was in stock and shipping including the new Dante amplifier.

The big news at ZeeVee was that its two new AV over IP products would be shipping within 30 days of the show.

Yamaha UC wanted to ensure you didn’t miss that message, so the staff was wearing flashing buttons “We Have Stock.” — (Image credit: Future)

Solutions, Not Boxes

Crestron, Kramer, Legrand AV, and Panasonic Connect booths were notably different at InfoComm 2022 than in the past. These booths were thoughtfully designed to present complete solutions representing specific applications or room layouts. Previous booth tours would comprise nicely presented black boxes with a litany of alphanumerics representing the model number and a bullet list of features. Kudos to these companies and others that are moving toward the ecosystem narrative versus the pieces and parts.

Crestron booth at InfoComm 2022 (Image credit: Future)

Kramer booth at InfoComm 2022 (Image credit: Future)

Panasonic Connect booth at InfoComm 2022 (Image credit: Future)

Virtual Production / Extended Reality

While at InfoComm, I went camping (twice) and surfed a digital wave. Absen, INFiLED, and Planar showed the power of virtual production / extended reality. The use of these virtual LED backgrounds in movie production is poised to save billions of dollars in location shooting as well as help actors feel present in the filming rather than pretending with a green screen.

More importantly for our industry, the use of VR/ER has the potential to increase engagement in education and corporate presentations.

Absen booth at InfoComm 2022 — Camping and playing UNO while at an InfoComm show? Why not. Absen's marketing coordinator, Jason Polk let me win. (Image credit: Future)

Planar booth at InfoComm 2022 — (Image credit: Future)

Audio Comes First in AV

Finally, audio is getting its due. Holger Stoltze, Yamaha UC’s senior director of technical sales and marketing at Yamaha UC is a frequent panelist of my AV Technology New Era AV/IT webcast series. He often points out, “audio comes first in ‘AV.’”

The hybrid environment is here to stay, and clear, intelligible audio is the most important component.

Cindy Davis is the brand and content director of AV Technology. Davis enjoys exploring the ethos of experiential spaces as well as diving deep into the complex topics that shape the AV/IT industry. In 2012, the TechDecisions brand of content sites she developed for EH Publishing was named one of “10 Great Business Media Websites” by B2B Media Business magazine. For more than 20 years, Davis has developed and delivered multiplatform content for AV/IT B2B and consumer electronics B2C publications, associations, and companies. From 2000 to 2008, Davis was the publisher and editor-in-chief of Electronic House. From 2009 to present, as the principal of CustomMedia.Co, Davis developed content plans and delivered content for associations such as IEEE Standards Association and AVIXA, content marketing for Future Plc, and numerous AV/IT companies. Davis was a critical member of the AVT editorial team when the title won the “Best Media Brand” laurel in the 2018 SIIA Jesse H. Neal Awards. A lifelong New Englander, Davis makes time for coastal hikes with her husband, Gary, and their Vizsla rescue, Dixie, sailing on one of Gloucester’s great schooners, and sampling local IPAs.