Frost & Sullivans says the uncertain post-pandemic situation will compel smart cities to focus more on developing collaborative, data-driven infrastructure to provide appropriate healthcare facilities as well as public security services, which will create significant business opportunities with a market value of $2.46 trillion by 2025.

“Smart cities will focus on data-driven and connected infrastructure, which will lead to higher adoption of technologies like AI and 5G. They will prioritize more digitalized services and a strong data analytics infrastructure, leading to increased spending toward technology,” said Malabika Mandal, visionary innovation group industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

Archana Vidyasekar, visionary innovation group research director at Frost & Sullivan, added, “Now more than ever, the strategy of being technology-first, optimistic, and focused on ‘smart’ is critical. While COVID-19 has largely been a health crisis, it has disrupted city ecosystems and infrastructure tremendously. Smart technologies offer innovative solutions that can reverse the damage and bring some respite, if not normalcy. For instance, digital contact tracing can play a critical role in empowering citizens with knowledge of COVID-impacted areas and promote safer urban movement.”

Frost & Sullivan’s key findings on smart cities include:

• Smart cities’ spending on technology in the next six years is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.7 percent, reaching $327 billion by 2025 from $96 billion in 2019. Technologies like artificial intelligence and big data will be in high demand to combat the pandemic, with growing opportunities for crowd analytics, open data dashboards, and online city services.
  
• There will be more than 26 smart cities by 2025, with 16 in North America and Europe.
  
• More than 70 percent of global smart city spending by 2030 will be from the United States, Western Europe, and China. Smart cities in the U.S. and Europe will continue spending on 5G and autonomous and robotic technologies. Almost all smart cities in the U.S. and Europe have already invested in open-data initiatives during the pandemic. In addition, China has renewed investments in 5G, smart grids, AI, data centers, and other smart city-related areas through the "new infrastructure initiative” introduced in 2018. 
  
• Growing demand for crowd management and monitoring in smart cities will lead the crowd analytics market to grow by 20-25 percent by 2030. It had market revenues of $748.6 million in 2020. Crowd analytics can be used to access collective real-time data. It can help ensure proper public healthcare services, traffic movement, and security and surveillance services across the smart city.
  
• Investments in smart initiatives are expected to rise over the next two years. Smart cities have already invested in contact tracing wearables and apps, open data platforms, autonomous drones, and crowd analytics to fight the pandemic. Post-pandemic, investment in smart projects like smart grids, intelligent traffic management, autonomous vehicles, smart lighting, e-governance services and data-enabled public safety, and security will gain traction.

Maybe you’ve seen optical character recognition (OCR) technology used in your favorite crime show, or perhaps you’ve used it to deposit a check with your smartphone. No matter your current experience level with OCR, you’ll likely become very acquainted with it soon as more and more cities are implementing the technology to improve infrastructure and streamline processes, specifically with video surveillance and physical security systems.

OCR—also commonly called automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), and license number plate recognition (LNPR)—takes alphanumeric characters that are visible to the human eye, like those on license plates, checks, and passports, and makes them electronic. Correct identification of these various characters can help organizations more accurately perform functions that were previously subject to human error. It can also help accelerate the speed at which computers and readers can perform the task. Combined, these can help organizations become more efficient.

Related: How AI is Simplifying Video

Equipping video surveillance cameras with OCR is the most common use of the technology, but there are countless other uses for OCR. Business use OCR in distribution centers for tracking orders as they travel through the conveyor and shipping system. Toll roads use the technology to charge fees to your account by recording your license plate number from traffic cameras. In the travel industry, OCR is used to read passports and licenses as travelers pass through airports and other travel facilities.

We have even seen surveillance cameras with OCR being used to monitor rail cars and trailers being brought to and from customer properties. This is valuable for the customer as freight companies will charge the customer for the time the car sits on their property while it’s unloaded. If the customer can reduce unloading time, they can reduce their operational costs.

Smart Cities

Challenged with rising costs and budget limitations, many cities are looking to OCR technology to help optimize, manage, and improve mobility statistics, traffic, law enforcement, safety and security, and more.

License plate recognition systems are essential to traffic cameras that have the capability to automatically fine vehicles for running red lights, exceeding speed limits, or entering restricted areas. In parking areas, OCR can cut costs and improve efficiency by automating many previously manual operations. Now, systems can detect the entry and exit of vehicles and automatically charge the rate according to the time parked to drivers’ accounts or credit cards.

Related: AdMobilize Audience Analytics Installed in Sao Paolo's Main Subway System

One of the more demanding smart city applications for OCR is within police patrol cars. Law enforcement agencies around the world see OCR as a powerful tool to reduce crime, increase police efficiency, and improve safety. Patrol cars can be equipped with cameras that are constantly scanning license plates and comparing them with their databases, which are updated on a central server. This is used to identify stolen vehicles, vehicles wanted in relation to crimes, and vehicles without compulsory insurance.

Other popular applications include the identification of vehicles in restricted areas, such as bus lanes and pedestrian zones. Vehicles can also be checked to ensure they have passed the relevant technical inspections. By reducing defective vehicles on the road, the number of deaths and injuries due to accidents caused by mechanical malfunction could also be reduced.

Additionally, by combining OCR with artificial intelligence (AI), text recognition is more accurate than ever before. Before AI, to improve the reliability of OCR data, a human had to manually measure and monitor the results. Now, AI solutions can be integrated with OCR to do this automatically while pulling insights from the text. The technologies work together to simultaneously capture and comprehend the data, improving accuracy and efficiency while also eliminating the labor costs associated with doing this manually.

Whether on a construction site or in a smart city, optical character recognition has proven to be a reliable, cost-effective solution to improve efficiency and maximize resources while cutting costs. 

Bob Dolan is the director of physical security technology at Anixter. For more on smart city trends, visit anixter.com/smartcity.

High among the trending topics at this year’s CES is smart cities—the promise that the choreographed intelligence that’s transforming our home lives will scale up to the built environment as well. But to bring such innovation about requires the cooperation of a number of entities, and this dynamic isn’t always easy to manage.

This was the theme of the discussion titled “Public-Private Partnerships to Create Smart Cities,” in which representatives from various sectors shared their recipes for progress and issues standing in the way of better implementations. Moderated by Kristin Musulin, senior editor of Smart Cities Dive, the panel consisted of Prashanthi Raman of Lyft, Chris Reeves of Horiba Mira, Sokwoo Rhee of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Chris Craig of the City of Las Vegas.

Rhee pointed out that compared to Asia, where smart city initiatives have a much more authoritative, top-down administration, the United States must contend with the dynamics between Federal and local governments. In addition, he noted that there is a struggle between private sector companies’ emphasis on performance indicators and government entities’ value on quality of life benefits.

[Smart Cities Redefine Large Venue Integration]

For Raman, it’s crucial for governments to set clear goals for their private partners. “We really have been able to be extraordinarily successful in having those individualized approaches across various cities and agencies, because not everyone is going to need the same thing,” she said.

Craig shared how Las Vegas has established an innovation district in its downtown where the city can run pilot projects with companies in a real-world setting. “We look at the social aspects of the product or solution, we look at the economic impact, things that benefit a community to make life better for its citizens,” he said.

Other topics included the struggle of attracting private interest in smaller cities and towns, issues surrounding data sharing, and the crucial role that non-profit organizations can play as a mediator in the public-private dynamic.

“We’ve got to step out in front of it and make it happen,” Craig said. “That’s the only way this revolution of smart cities is truly going to happen: if people take the lead and just do it.”

For more CES 2020 news and stories, visit twice.com/tag/ces-2020.

 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) says it will experience significant growth on its next edition, held Nov. 19-21 in Barcelona. 

The ninth edition SCEWC will spread over two halls of the Gran Via venue recording a 20 percent growth and breaking its record for the ninth consecutive year. Under the theme Cities Made of Dreams, the show and congress will reflect on the transformation that metropolises have experienced in the past decade, how many solutions that seemed sheer daydreaming back then are now reality, and how we have the tools turn more dreams into reality in the near future.

[Smart Cities Redefine Large Venue Integration]

The congress program will be structured in five themes—Digital Transformation, Urban Environment, Mobility, Governance & Finance, and Inclusive & Sharing Cities—and will cover topics such as Data-Driven Cities, 5G and the future of Connectivity; Resilient Cities; Gentrification; Innovative Transport Systems; Multilevel Governance; Sharing and Collaborative Economy; Circular Economy; and Cities for All. In 2019, the event will be jointly held with Smart Mobility Congress.

Featured keynote speakers include Janette Sadik-Khan, one of the world's foremost authorities on transportation and urban transformation and former New York City transportation commissioner; Shira Rubinoff, a recognized cybersecurity executive and influencer, who has led multiple women-in-technology efforts; and Laura Tenenbaum, an award-winning science communicator who was the senior science editor of NASA's Global Climate Change website where she reported on sea level rise, ice mass loss, and regional climate impacts.

For more information or to register, visit smartcityexpo.com/

The What: Peerless-AV has launched the Smart City Kiosk (KOP2549-XHB, KOP2555-XHB).

The What Else: The Smart City Kiosk includes an Xtreme High Bright Outdoor Display with 1080p resolution for a bright picture, even in direct sunlight. In addition, an optional 10-point IR touch overlay makes the kiosk interactive for all users.

Featuring a curved, modular design that blends into any city or town setup, the Smart City Kiosk offers quick access to the display for maintenance without disturbing any adjacent units. Plus, installation is easy, without the need for cranes or forklifts.

The Bottom Line: Available in 49, 55, and soon 65 inches, the Smart City Kiosk can withstand winds up to 140 mph, making it useable in any city or town for a range of applications, such as retail, government, corporate, hospitality, stadium, and university settings.

AdMobilize's AI-powered Audience Analytics System has been integrated into new interactive subway doors that are now deployed at three subway stations on the Yellow Line of the Sao Paulo Metro in Brazil. Over one million passengers travel the Yellow Line every day.

According to AdMobilize CEO and co-founder Rodolfo Saccoman, the incorporation of the AdMobilize anonymous Audience Analytics Solution into the subway system’s new interactive doors will provide ViaQuatro, the company responsible for the new interactive doors, with an advertising platform that also delivers detailed data on the amount of people who watch the displayed advertising as well as their emotional responses while doing so. The screens of the doors are also being used to provide travelers with updated news and information.

“The AdMobilize system quantifies the number of people standing in front of the doors along with their gender, age, dwell time, and facial emotion analysis,” Saccoman said. “These expressions include happiness, surprise, neutrality, and dissatisfaction, among others. The traditionally used, historical-based proof-of-performance data is incomplete and highly inaccurate. Thus, advertisers are quickly embracing AI-built analytics in order to dynamically change their ads and reliably understand the true impact of their advertising.”

According to Saccoman, AdMobilize technologies are now deployed in 82 countries and 469 cities around the world. “Like other major cities around the world, the city of Sao Paulo is making significant investments in understanding its inhabitants, improving mobility, pushing toward a smart city overhaul, and providing accurate data. This is an important step that we expect will be implemented throughout the city’s metro system over the next several years.”

ViaQuatro is the concessionaire responsible for the operation and maintenance of Line 4-Yellow of the Sao Paulo subway, the first public-private partnership agreement in Brazil. The contract with the Government of the State of São Paulo, signed on November 29, 2006, allows the concessionaire to operate and maintain the Line 4-Yellow subway for 30 years. ViaQuatro has invested US $450 million between systems, equipment and trains. Over the 30 years of operation, it will invest more than U.S. $2 billion in the line.

The system was installed by integration firmH2A.NET; Inviron Technologies powers the CMS system deployed in the installation.

“AdMobilize is growing rapidly in Brazil and our platform was chosen for this project, as it is for many others, because it is the most reliable, accurate, and trustworthy platform for this important and highly visible kind of project,” Saccoman said. “Our technology is quickly being implemented in airports and other transportation centers where the capturing of accurate audience analytics is a top priority.”

Zytronic has supplied smartLINK custom multitouch sensors powering a network of interactive kiosks located in five cities across the U.S. smartLINK designed its new GEN3 SmartKiosk as an easy-to-deploy platform for municipalities, communities, and mixed-use developments seeking to power smart city initiatives through interactive engagement, messaging, security, and intelligence-gathering.

Environmental sensors scan factors such as particulate matter, gasses, barometric pressure and temperature. 3D Wayfinding enables users to receive detailed geocached mapping data directly to personal devices. Video sensors gather data to analyze foot traffic, count auto traffic, measure traffic flow, identify and recommend alternate transportation options and solutions. Arrival and departure information for public transportation provides real-time status to users planning their daily needs. Ultrasonic sensors use sonar technology to run analytics and analyze background sound data. In addition, LiDAR technology is used to perform 360-degree laser scans to create detailed maps of everything within a 300-foot radius of the kiosks. The net result is to provide municipalities, communities, entertainment venues and mixed-use developments with the ability to activate, connect and communicate with citizens and visitors inclusively. Using relevant data designed to improve quality of life, the smartLINK SmartKiosk delivers a robust, engaging, fun, and informative 24/7 interactive experience.

Central to the SmartKiosk functionality are Zytronic’s patented multitouch sensors, which smartLINK integrates into a high-definition, 2,500 nit LED LCD. Displays this bright present engineering challenges regarding EMI and touch recognition. Zytronic’s patented and proprietary controller firmware enable flawless, low-latency interaction, delivering seamless touch interaction. The smartLINK GEN3 SmartKiosk—currently deployed in 55-inch and 75-inch configurations in Newport, KY, Lawrenceburg, IN, Sunny Isles Beach, FL, Pembroke Pines, FL and the City of South Miami, FL—enable people to learn about the surrounding area, play educational games, take selfies, and even contact the police in emergency situations. This all-weather, interactive functionality is made possible through hardware and software engineering by the smartLINK engineering group and with partners like Zytronic that deliver touch technology.

“Engaging with the public in any smart city deployment requires kiosks to be predictive, fun and functional and above all, reliable in all weather conditions,” said Steve Price, president and CEO of Priconics, the company working with the smartLINK management, engineering, and manufacturing teams to source critical display and sensor components within the new GEN3 SmartKiosk. “Zytronic sensors serve as the gateway to this interactive experience, enabling citizens and tourists to intuitively navigate a wealth of content and delivering meaningful interaction with the smartLINK SmartKiosk."

As these kiosks are in unattended outdoor locations, precautions have been taken to ensure they endure the rigors of everyday use. The Zytronic 5mm thermally tempered glass is durable and vandal-resistant, and its anti-glare etched surface treatment enables viewing in direct sunlight.

Growing from a fishing village in the '70s to a metropolis now, Shenzhen has seen rapid development accompanied by imbalance and non-systematic resource allocation. To improve city administration and service capabilities, Shenzhen has been working hard to transform it to a “smart city.”

Committed to Shenzhen's mission of becoming a Smart City role model, Longgang district built the “smart city brain”, Longgang Operation Centre (LOC), and introduced the world's largest NPP LED display system provided by the LED manufacturer Absen.

Composed of 798 panels with a curve of 37.1 meters in radius, this 166.9 sqm 1.2mm screen is 25.6m by 6.5m and contains a record-breaking 103 million pixels. Featuring industry-leading technologies like power and data redundancy, CrystalView and PreciseAlign technology, this control room solution offers quality images, comfortable viewing experience and robust stability. 181 signals are received and displayed through 105 windows at 720p (40 at 1080p and 10 at 4K resolution).

“To engineer such an enormous curved screen of high resolution in 85 days from production to installation is a big challenge,” said the sales director of Absen, Zhang Yongfeng, “The center was still being built and full of dust during installation process. Thanks to our sophisticated technologies and highly effective teams, it was really a tough task, but we made it!”

What highlights this project is the innovative power and data redundancy technology, which secures the robust stability of the “smart city brain.” Each panel is equipped with two power banks and two receiving cards so that the power and signal can be switched to the backup set whenever needed, which means the display system will never go down.

“We once were in a dilemma of choosing LCD, DLP or LED. LCD and DLP screen would show unacceptable gaps for a demanding control room environment,” said project manager Wu Yanbin, “but we know it is right when we try CR1.2 and see each panel fits seamlessly to the next, leaving no black bezel, not to mention the power and signal backup design. That's why we choose Absen.”

The combination of IoT, big data, and AI is making cities smart. According to a recent report by research firm Frost & Sullivan, the smart buildings market in North America (including smart sensors, systems, hardware, controls, and software) will be a $5.74 billion industry in 2020. And last year, BCC Research estimated that information and communications technologies for smart cities will produce a revenue of almost $327 billion in North America by 2021. So how can AV integrators and consultants get in the game?

In many cases, it already is––depending on how you define “smart cities.” Lloyd Francioni, managing partner, business development at Interstate Electronic Systems, an audiovisual design/build firm based in Harahan, LA, admits that the definition of what a smart city is can be quite broad, “but all of it ties back to the basic infrastructure of the communities in which we live,” he said. “Whether it’s transportation, emergency medical services, law enforcement, Homeland Security, 911 centers, or network operations centers providing data on sewage and water, it all has a common thread.”

IES has carved out a niche in its region for its work in command and control centers. Recently, the firm completed a project for the New Orleans Real Time Crime Center (RTCC), which currently receives over 200 feeds from cameras located throughout the city (80 in the French Quarter, and another 125 in high crime areas). For this project, IES integrated Christie Phoenix and Christie FHD553 LCD flat panels for a 2 x 19 wraparound wall in the main command center; a 2 x 2 LCD wall in a collaboration space; and a 2 x 4 flat panel wall in another room used for dealing with Homeland Security issues, with the Phoenix system supplying real-time data collection. The system also allows for the authorities to narrow searches: for example, if a robbery suspect was said to be wearing a red shirt, the camera feeds will focus in on only those in the viewing area who match that description. New Orleans plans to install an additional 125 cameras, and in some cases, private cameras positioned in residences and businesses will be linked to the RTCC.

“Command and control is really the hub of all of the technology that people relate to with smart cities,” Francioni said. “At the heart of all of these [projects] are command centers, and there are people making human decisions that can’t be automated. What they all have in common is that they want to maximize the effectiveness of the resources that they’re managing.”

Howard Nunes, CEO at PepperDash Technology Corp., an AV consulting, design, and control programming firm based in Salem, MA, recounts that his team worked on the deployment of an emergency operations center for New York City a number of years ago. Fed by 700 closed-circuit cameras positioned throughout the city, as well as feeds from local media sources, he says the facility was designed to enable emergency services, law enforcement, and city officials to better respond to crisis situations.

Not long after project completion, Nunes explains, the center was put to the test when, in 2009, Captain Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger landed a U.S. Airways passenger jet on the Hudson River after a flock of geese flew into the plane’s engines, cutting off power. “The AV part––the smart city AV part––was all of those cameras along the river being fed to City Hall, and City Hall was able to get a view of what was going on there immediately,” he said. “They were able to make decisions very quickly because those security cameras were enabled.”

Raj Patel, principal at global design and consulting firm Arup, headquartered in London, U.K., believes that smart cities will present the AV industry with many opportunities, data structure being one of the strongest. Another area is the potential for screen technology to not only manage things like traffic, but also to continually shift environments: displays may present circulation information during rush hour, and then later on in the evening, they could transform into works of digital art. The same goes for audio technology and its contribution to soundscaping: “You’ll be able to shape the environment through audio,” he said. And, thanks to the increasing prevalence of (quiet) electric cars, traffic noise may decrease, but that also means that pedestrians can’t always hear an approaching vehicle. Once again, audio––and video––can play a role here.

As smart cities evolve, Nunes urges the AV industry to play a leading role. “I’m a huge proponent of smart buildings and smart cities being an appropriate place for AV providers to be looking for opportunity, because the sharing of data––which is core to this notion of what’s smart––is dependent on having data inputs or sensory inputs in whatever your facility is. And those inputs are frequently AV-related,” he said. And even when they’re not––take occupancy sensors, for example––they have a direct impact on AV technology. Nunes recounts that his firm frequently includes occupancy sensors in its smart room designs to enable streamlined control of meeting spaces. “That’s data at work; automation based on data in a limited environment in a conference room, but the same concepts expand. They scale very quickly to a larger community––a city.” He concedes that the objectives behind smart city projects are almost always political––which inherently shapes how data is used––“the opportunity, I think, in the AV world, is getting that information to the people who need to make those decisions.”

And, many of the opportunities that smart cities present won’t necessarily lead the AV industry into unfamiliar territory. “It’s going to be stuff they already do,” Nunes said. “How do you get in front of any opportunity? You need to be knocking on City Hall’s door, figuratively speaking, and inquiring about what their plans are, what their thinking is. And a lot of this is [done] at the early consulting level, and I think AV consultants could add a huge amount of value in defining what a smart city is.”

As I’ve often commented while attending and covering the SXSW Interactive conference each year, the term “Interactive” has usually been painted here in huge, rolling strokes that cover any and everything from autonomous cars to music streaming and movie technology, and yes, an endless landscape of apps (more apps than any sane person needed to know about). SXSW– with its mix of tech tools and trends from many quarters– interactive, music, apps, VR, AR, cinema, consumer– could always make even the most seasoned/jaded tech industry analyst’s head spin, and spin. And a lot of it was not relevant to the business models or technology wish lists of sophisticated video, AV, or collaboration technology providers (or their customers).

Fast forward (not, I advise, while wearing a VR headset) to SXSW 2018– and what a difference a year makes. This year the landscape at SXSW– taking place this week in Austin, TX– has changed dramatically. Out is so much obsession with smartphone apps, and in–if you know where to look– is the kind of interactive technology that would make any seasoned veteran of the NAB, CES, ISE, DSE, or InfoComm shows pause and take notice.

What’s changed? Simple: larger (and some huge) digital palettes (think bigger displays, direct-view LED, and large venue projection), and VR, AR, and AI have finally turned the attention of SXSW and its corporate attendees (the SXSW Interactive portion of the event that has 35,000 badged corporate attendees) away from all those apps and toward the new kinds of immersive technologies that are raising the bar for all things experiential. If you’re reading this, you know about this kind of transition to experiential technology from AVIXA. SXSW won’t replace a trip to the InfoComm show or NAB for tech providers, but the larger world of technology– larger in both a platform and a demographic sense– represented at SXSW is coming closer to our world, even as we move toward theirs. Meeting in the middle? Maybe not this week, but the movement is exciting. Exciting because everyone on the NAB/InfoComm/CES side can teach the larger (SXSW) side how to get more serious about industrial strength tech tools. And the SXSW world can teach a lot to the NAB/InfoComm/CES side about where and how most of the current end users – and all of the future ones– live and work and think.

There is no better way to illustrate how SXSW has changed, and how the different worlds are coming closer to each other, than with two prominent finalists in this year’s SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards. Hundreds of projects were entered for a chance at the top honors in each of 13 categories– that cover AR and VR to Smart Cities to Health & Bio to Data and Privacy to AI & Machine Learning to Visual Media technology. But two of the finalists should catch your attention here. In the Responsive Design category, the entry (and finalist) KONTINUUM, an “underground journey through time” by Moment Factory and the city of Ottawa. And in the Visual Media Experience category, the entry (and finalist) GE – Unseen Stars by BBDO New York, New York, NY, with that project’s tech provider, Obscura).

Moment Factory’s entry into the Responsive Design category, KONTINUUM, an “underground journey through time” was a unique project that transformed a space from what would have been a troublesome construction site and commuter disruption in the heart of a city of Ottawa into a fun, engaging multimedia experience for thousands. As part of the 150th anniversary of Canada’s confederation, the Ottawa 2017 Bureau and Moment Factory co-produced an immersive underground experience in what was to become the Lyon station of Ottawa’s new Light Rail Transit (LRT) system. An original idea by Ottawa 2017, the interactive multimedia installation was designed to position the city as a leader in innovation and creativity and spark visitors’ interest in the upcoming LRT initiative.

The best part of it: KONTINUUM was done not with apps and smartphone tools but with the highest level displays, projection, image processing and experiential content tools– transforming a construction problem into opportunity for tourism and unexpected positive experiences. As visitors entered the space, they become digital (a 3D scan of their body to their linked to their ticket ID) and can influence and control all of the responsive immersive media stations. During their tour their "avatar" appears regularly as a digital alter ego following them. At the end there is a photo booth where their "tribe" appears together. To maintain the experience after departure visitors can download their avatar online and play it in a Hologram Pyramid.

Visiting the Finalist Showcase at the Hilton on Sunday at SXSW in Austin (a preview of all the finalists before the Interactive Innovation Awards ceremony that takes place Tuesday evening March 13 at SXSW), I spoke with both Moment Factory, and Obscura, about their entries, and about how they see the cross-pollination of technology solutions across different markets and different demographics.

There may be no better spokesperson for benefits of more cross-pollination between the AVIXA and NAB worlds and the SXSW world than Amahl Hazelton of Moment Factory. Amahl held forth all day at the Finalist Showcase for the SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards on Sunday, explaining to a throng of attendees the goal of both the KONTINUUM project and the design and technology philosophies of Moment Factory.

“How can you create a meaningful experience,” Hazeleton asked, “and sense of place during the long and often unpleasant process of construction–in other words, how can we transform a job site into a destination long before it is actually completed? Especially if that jobsite is in the middle of the nation's and its capital city's 150th anniversary celebrations? Kontinuum is a great example of using creative entertainment technologies and solutions to create a sense of anticipation and engagement with a destination during a short window in an otherwise highly disruptive construction process.”

I asked Hazelton if he sees, outside of one trade conference, more bringing together of the pro video and AV world with the larger world represented by SXSW and other, broader tech communities including end users.

“Moment Factory has observed enormous growth of interest in video and AV solutions outside of the traditional pro video/AV, or entertainment industries.” he replied. “Destinations of all stripes ranging from sports and entertainment venues, retail stores and centers, resorts (both land-based and ocean-faring cruise ships!) and cultural or gaming facilities, to urban, natural, heritage and theme parks, to civic architecture, public spaces and infrastructure– are asking themselves ‘what can permanently integrated, especially interactive, multimedia platforms offer to my destination?’ "

“Your readers and their clients,” explained Hazelton, “should look at Moment Factory’s Changi & LAX Airports, Shinsegae department stores and Flagship retail stores like Oakley & Microsoft, Cruise Ships like Royal Caribbean, nature and heritage parks like our Lumina family of experiences, and even our massive-scaled interactive video LED bridge illumination fixed integration (Jacques Cartier Bridge, that is also a finalist in this year’s SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards, in the Smart Cities category) as evidence of this trend, and for inspiration in building a vision and business plan around what integrated, interactive multimedia can do for destinations around the world.”

Well said, and without even using the VR, AR, and AI verbiage being tossed around not only at SXSX but everywhere these days. In fact, what we’re seeing now is a shift in emphasis from also those clichéd VR applications (mainly just photo opps of someone wearing a VR headset) and endless press releases about devices using AI in everything, to rigorous designs that bring more rigorous display, image processing, and data visualization tools to real installations.

Interestingly, Will Chase, the head of communications at Obscura, brought home the point that the much-hyped “VR” term in every quarter now has a new meaning for their company.

Obscura was the technology designer/provider behind the finalist entry here, in Visual Media Experience category, for the GE – Unseen Stars installation, that used the huge ceiling of Grand Central Station in New York City, last September, for a pixel-mapping driven, huge architectural screen tribute to women scientists in U.S. history.

Anyone reading this report knows how high lumen pixel mapping, using big gun video projectors–from the likes of Christie, Barco, Panasonic, Epson, Digital Projection, NEC, and other projection providers– can transform any architectural space from a domed ceiling to the entire façade of a huge museum or skyscraper into a stunning digital palette that can make any visitor put down their smartphone and gape in awe. The Unseen Stars temporary installation ran for 3 days last September, to rave reviews from the public. 32 Christie Boxster projectors were used on the project. Obscura was responsible for all the projection technology, as well as the content design.

Obscura’s Will Chase hit the nail on the head when I spoke with him Sunday, discussing among other things huge powerful video tools vs. yet more “VR” hype from every corner.

“We do what we call ‘collective VR’”, said Chase. “VR with a VR headset, is one person at a time. We create large scale experiences, that can be shared”.

Collective VR– make a note of that. That’s the future and growth market for sophisticated technology provided by many reading these pages.

Below are all the 13 award categories being recognized at the SXSW Interactive 2018 Innovation Awards, and finalists in each category. (The Awards ceremony is this evening March 13th– look for an update on the winners in these pages tomorrow.) AI & Machine Learning

Honoring digital systems which have the ability to adapt to changing data, stimuli, and circumstances; replicating learning, problem solving, and cognition.

• eBALLution by Akatsuki Inc., Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
• Swarm AI by Unanimous AI, San Francisco, CA
• The Cognitive Story by Darwin Ecosystem, Dallas, TX
• Toyota Mirai – AI by Tool, Santa Monica, CA & Saatchi & Saatchi, Las Angeles, CA
• Woebot by Woebot Labs, Inc., San Francisco, CA Health, Med, & BioTech

Honoring the new technology that best improves the quality, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care in health and medicine.

• MasSpec Pen by the Eberlin Lab at The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
• EksoVest by Ekso Bionics, Richmond, CA
• Spark: An Autonomous Fitness & Rehabilitation Platform by James Simmons, Gonzalo Gelso, Hwanghah Jeong, Dipali Bajaj, Zhaolin Cai, and Andrew Sibert, Savannah, GA
• Movement Tracks Project by Center for Music Therapy, Inc., Austin, TX
• Turning Machine Intelligence Against Lung Cancer by Booz Allen Hamilton, McLean, VA

Innovation in Connecting People
Honoring the best new way to connect and communicate with others.
• Airbnb x VICE Experiences by Airbnb, San Francisco, CA
• ElliQ by Intuition Robotics, Ramat Gan, Israel and San Francisco, CA
• Maestro: Empowering VR Storytelling Through Social Collaboration by Penrose Studios, San Francisco, CA
• Hands-Free Music Project by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
• Read To Me by The Electric Factory, Montevideo, Uruguay

Music & Audio Innovation
Honoring 2017’s best device or service that changes and improves the way we listen to and enjoy music.
• Bacardi – Music Liberates Music by BBDO New York, New York, NY
• Downtown Records – Live Looper by BBDO New York, New York, NY
• Harman Connected PA by Harman, a Samsung Entity, Plano, TX
• Hands-Free Music Project by Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA
• Dolby Atmos for Music by Dolby Laboratories, San Francisco, CA

New Economy
Honoring those redefining the exchange of goods and services, from the sharing economy, to virtual currency, to micro-finance, to mobile-device-payment systems, and beyond.
• Interactive Fitting Room by Stefanka, Montreal. QC
• MRI AutoDetect: The ProMRI Advantage by BIOTRONIK INC, Portland, OR
• The World’s First AI Financial Advisor by Pefin, New York, NY
• Autonomous Operations Platform for Selfdriving Fleets by Ridecell, San Francisco, CA
• Setapp, the first Mac app subscription service by MacPaw, Kyiv, Ukraine

Privacy & Security
Honoring 2017’s most progressive accomplishment in the way we go about securing our data and ensuring our privacy.
• bot detection by botswatch GmbH, Berlin, Germany
• BullGuard for Dojo by BullGuard, Redwood City, CA and Herzliya, Israel
• Ghostery Privacy Ad Blocker by Ghostery, New York, NY
• Data Subject Access Rights Portal by OneTrust, Atlanta, GA
• YubiKey 4C Nano by Yubico, Palo Alto, CA

Honoring excellent digital design, creating the best-integrated interaction in terms of content, aesthetics, and functionality.

• K’gari: The Real Story of a True Fake by SBS, Sydney, New South Wales
• KONTINUUM, an underground journey through time by Moment Factory and Ottawa 2017 Bureau, Montréal, QC
• Quest to LEGOLAND by VML, New York, NY
• The Coca-Cola Times Square Billboard
by space150, Atlanta, GA
• TinyMOS: Astrophotography made small, smart and social by Y&R Singapore, Singapore

Scifi No Longer
Honoring the coolest scientific achievement or discovery that before 2017 was only possible in science fiction.
• Google Earth VR by Google, Mountain View, CA
• HoloPlayer One by Looking Glass, Brooklyn, NY
• Jacquard™ by Google, Mountain View, CA
• Simulate the invisible: a real-time muography simulator developed for • ScanPyramids mission by Benoit Marini, Paris/Bordeaux, France
• The Dermal Abyss: When Tattoos meet Biotechnology by MIT Media Lab, Harvard Medical School and UC Davis, Davis, CA

Smart Cities
Honoring innovations in eco-friendly or sustainable energy, transportation, and IoT technology, making life in the connected world a smarter, cleaner, greener, and more efficient Internet of Everything.
• Floating an Idea: The + POOL Story by m ss ng p eces, Tribeca Studios, Heineken Cities Project, Brooklyn, NY
• The Future of Fast: Alta’s Lithium-Ion Battery Pack by Alta Motors, Brisbane, CA
• Gita by Piaggio Fast Forward, Boston, MA
• Jacques-Cartier Bridge Interactive Illumination Concept by Moment Factory, with: Réalisations Montréal Inc., Ambiances Design Productions, ATOMIC3, Éclairage Public / Ombrages, Lucion Média and UDO Design.Project directed by Jacques Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., Montreal, QC
• KERB AC Discovery by KERBspace, Bozeman, MT

Student Innovation
Honoring the student with an exceptional interactive technology project or startup; both of which are the future.
• Facebook Messenger Blood Type Bots by Ryan Leckie and Jakub Straka, Miami Ad School Europe, Hamburg, Germany
• Philips HaptoCube by Aleksandr Bobrov, Gabriela Marijke van der Linden and Carrie Tang, Miami Ad School Europe, Hamburg, Germany
• Samsung Magic Bed by Alex Lungu, Belén Aragon, Hannes Rath and Philip Ziegler, Miami Ad School Europe, Hamburg, Germany
• Seeing Theory: A Visual Introduction to Probability and Statistics by Daniel Kunin, • Jingru Guo, Tyler Dae Devlin, and Daniel Xiang, Providence, RI
• TinyMOS: Astrophotography made small, smart and social – World’s smallest, smartest, and most social astronomy camera by Y&R Singapore, Singapore

Visual Media Experience
Honoring content creation and delivery that moves beyond passive viewership by providing a more immersive and engaging entertainment experience.
• Deep City by HUSH, Brooklyn, NY
• GE – Unseen Stars by BBDO New York, New York, NY
• LEGO House Fish Designer by LEGO House / Trigger Global, Los Angeles, CA
• NASA: Data Lens by Bluecadet, Philadelphia, PA
Player.me by SplitmediaLabs Limited, Manila Philippines

VR & AR
Honoring breakthroughs in augmented and virtual reality technology including the application of new hardware or software which truly make the virtual a reality.
• Directional AR and more. A minimalist way by Wagoo LLC, Irving, TX, & Wagoo, Italia, Srls
• Maestro: Empowering VR Storytelling Through Social Collaboration by Penrose Studios, San Francisco, CA
• Quest to LEGOLAND by VML, New York, NY
• RadHA (Radiology with Holographic Augmentation) by Bencin Studios, Smyrna, TN | UCSF & HoloSurg3D Lab, San Francisco, CA
• Zero Days VR by Scatter, Brooklyn, NY