The What: Visix, Inc. has released version 1.32 of their AxisTV Signage Suite digital signage software with a new voice recognizer widget that turns any screen into a hands-free interactive sign.

The What Else: AxisTV Signage Suite users can drag and drop the new voice recognizer widget (VRW) onto any layout, then set custom parameters that instruct the sign what to listen for and how to respond to requests. It can be used on single displays, banks of screens and video walls in any environment.

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“Clients no longer have to depend on touchscreens for interactivity, which is especially important in this time of concern about germ transmission,” says Jill Perardi, creative services manager for Visix. “Just as people got used to using touchscreens because of smartphones, they’re now starting to expect a voice user interface like they use with their virtual assistants at home. Now anyone with digital signage can offer that experience without having to invest in expensive touchscreens or custom programming. They can just use the software and displays they already have.”

Real-world application of the VRW allows viewers to walk up to any display, ask for the material they want, and then immediately see that content on screen. AxisTV Signage Suite users simply design the various content options, employ the VRW, enter speech triggers, and configure those triggers to launch the appropriate content. Keywords can launch different slides within a layout, or simply hide or show things on the same slide.

The Bottom Line: The programming behind Visix’s voice-activated signage isn’t as complicated as the natural language processing used by other virtual assistants. Instead, it takes advantage of the built-in speech recognition engine for Windows 10 that’s already in the Visix media player, and doesn’t involve any programmatic adjustments. As such, it doesn’t require any additional fees, internet connectivity, artificial intelligence or other third-party products to work. Visix does not sell displays or microphones, but can recommend local integration partners who will suggest microphone models and placement for the client’s environment.

Watch a video of the Voice Recognizer Widget in action at: https://www.visix.com/new-products/.

The What: BrightSign announced the release of BrightVoice, the company’s voice-activated digital signage solution that enables a hands-free interactive experience. The company says BrightVoice allows audiences to interact verbally with digital signage using wake words followed by natural voice commands that trigger playback of on-screen content, music, lighting and other devices. They point out that while this type of interaction mimics the workflow popularized by commercially available voice-enabled smart speakers and other devices, the BrightVoice solution is hosted locally on the BrightSign player and does not require an internet connection.

The What Else: Reflect is the first content management system (CMS) partner to integrate BrightSign’s new voice-activated capabilities into its ReflectView software platform. The company recently built a BrightVoice-enabled solution for a major wireless communications service provider, deploying voice-activated digital signage in a number of key retail locations in the United States, with plans to roll-out to more than 1,000 stores in the months ahead.

“Smart devices such as speakers, watches and phones have propelled voice interactivity into the mainstream, and therefore voice-activated digital signage is a natural extension of that workflow,” said BrightSign CEO Jeff Hastings. “What’s unique about the BrightVoice solution is that it enables manufacturers to demonstrate their own smart devices at retail without requiring an internet connection. This will be welcome news for any brand or retailer that’s ever grappled with the challenge of demonstrating cloud-enabled devices to customers via intermittent (or nonexistent) network connections.”

The Bottom Line: Existing signage networks using BrightSign XD1034 or XT1144 media players can implement voice activation capabilities by purchasing the BrightVoice Command Model Service and a USB-connected microphone for each endpoint. Network administrators, working with BrightSign, then create a custom set of voice commands that trigger specific content responses when used in conjunction with the included standard wake word.

Customers desiring further customization have the option of purchasing additional levels of BrightVoice Command Model Service, which enable them to trigger unique content, control other devices, and create customized wake words to deliver an interactive experience fully tailored to the customer’s needs.

The What: BenQ has added to its Premium RP Series of interactive flat panels (IFPs) with voice control powered by AWS. Directly integrating AWS with BenQ's Saffi voice-assistant technology, the RP Series IFPs use a voice-enabled remote that is designed to simplify instruction tasks and introduce more flexibility in the classroom.

The What Else: The voice capability is available as an Amazon skill and can access the deep features of the Premium RP Series through simple voice commands. Perfectly suited for active learning classrooms, the voice-activated 4K UHD IFP lineup includes the 65-inch RP6501K, 75-inch RP7501K, and 86-inch RP8601K. A quick firmware update is available to integrate Saffi to units already out in the market.

"When we introduced the RP Series IFPs, our goal was to deliver a new and powerful way for teachers to command the classrooms and to drive learning potential for students through cloud collaboration, multiuser account management, and support for campus text and video broadcasting systems," said Bob Wudeck, senior director of business, education and CinePro solutions at BenQ America Corp. "Voice control is a natural expansion of these features. For over a year, we've been working with AWS to perfect the integration of voice. With our latest update, teachers and students will enjoy a more seamless, flexible and productive experience. BenQ's Saffi IFPs are the future of smart collaboration."

The new BenQ Remote offers tools to help teachers keep the classroom on task. These tools include a pointer that creates a virtual spotlight that highlights areas on the screen and brings students' focus to key content. In addition, the remote features a freeze screen function, enabling instructors to check and ensure the safety and legitimacy of content on their laptop before sending it to the screen for students to view.

When combined with BenQ's EZWrite 5.0 platform, the IFPs become a hub for sharing ideas, notes, and opinions. Participants can capture images of the screen and make annotations on the screen from their devices, regardless of their location. In addition, files can be downloaded and uploaded to cloud services, such as Google Drive and Dropbox, directly from the screen without the hassle of connecting USB cables and other devices.

The IFPs also come with dual pens that allow two users to write or draw simultaneously with different colors. Within Brush Mode, participants can also use a physical paintbrush to meld technology and art. With the handwriting recognition feature, the IFPs instantly convert written text, numbers, forms, and drawings into easily legible digital text without having to switch modes.

The Bottom Line: With AWS built into BenQ's Saffi remote, the Premium RP Series IFPs further the line’s interactive experience and collaborative technologies. Once the Saffi skill is enabled, staff can simply access the flat panel's extensive menus via voice for easy operation. In addition, they can play specific content on the screen, change modes, and more without having to be next to the panel—saving time and making operation smoother.

The explosion of Voice Assistant (VA) technology in the consumer segment has been phenomenal, with 37 million units of smart speakers installed worldwide as of the end of 2017. This technology is starting to make waves into the B2B environment, with Futuresource Consulting predicting that by 2022, 82 million professional AV displays and room control devices shipped will be voice-enabled. This excludes usage of dedicated consumer smart speakers in healthcare, hospitality, and education.

“Much activity has been occurring within the consumer space around voice assistants and smart homes and this is translating into greater interest in the B2B space,” said Chris McIntyre-Brown, associate director at Futuresource Consulting. “End-users and service providers are asking OEMs if they can also take advantage of VA and voice control. Increased productivity and efficiency along with improved customer service are two of the primary drivers.”

This new report from Futuresource Consulting maps out the B2B applications and competitive landscape for voice control and voice assistant technologies. It is clear that the major brands reviewed in the report want to be part of the action as it is strategically important. Controlling the user interface will enable companies to deepen their relationship with users, offer personalized services and the ability to undertake deeper user analytics.

Amazon is leading the voice revolution in the consumer space and is continuing to build out its Alexa-for-business suite of capabilities with new features, including smart scheduling integrating with Office 365, Exchange, and G-Suite calendars. Amazon has also partnered with leading companies like Crestron, Polycom, and Cisco for office control, automation, and communication applications.

IBM, another pioneering company in the B2B space, announced earlier this year that its AI platform ‘Watson’ was being extended with a white label VA solution for third parties. It’s no surprise that there is lots of interest and excitement in the application of this technology. However, McIntyre-Brown said that, “It will take time; most companies are in the evaluation phase of how best to implement voice and what level of capability and intelligence will be most suitable for their customers' use cases. In terms of adoption, B2B will lag behind consumer adoption, not least because of data privacy and security concerns. Voice is not quite there yet, but it is not far off, and the number of pilots and meaningful integrations and partnerships is increasing.”

According to Futuresource, corporate will be the lead off vertical for implementation of VAs. This is where the firm sees the greatest benefit being offered in terms of improved productivity, time saving, automation, and more obvious compelling hands-free use cases. However, the report highlights some interesting user case studies that are being implemented in other verticals such as healthcare, hospitality, and education.

Long before NBC’s The Office made Scranton a lovable character, the historic city in Pennsylvania’s northeast corner has been an important voice in the nation’s narrative. With roots as an anthracite coal king, the city continues to lead the Commonwealth with innovative programs in the arts, culture, science, and healthcare.

The University of Scranton is one of the city’s educational leaders that honors its prestigious legacy while keeping an eye to the future, and collaborative technologies help set the institution apart. As the media and control system engineer of The University of Scranton, Robert Kennedy, CTS designs the touchpanels of the school’s control systems and supports audiovisual technology in nearly 200 classrooms. He also works on AV system implementation, collaborating with outside integrators when necessary. Kennedy has also found a unique way to meld his passion for emerging technologies with his deep expertise in audiovisual engineering. That method is artificial intelligence (AI), specifically an Alexa Classroom Control skill that he wrote for use with Extron Pro series processors and touchpanels. The Alexa Classroom Control skill and the Extron Global Scripter Alexa Module are still in beta, but the timing of this project couldn’t be better. AI and cognitive technologies are poised to shape the future of classroom and enterprise-grade AV.

NETWORKED AV

Kennedy recognizes the growing importance of AV over IP and explained that The University of Scranton utilizes networked projectors. “We keep the AV feeds localized. In the future, we may distribute video over IP from the switcher to the projector, but currently we’re using HDBaseT for that purpose,” he said. “So, it doesn’t negatively impact our network bandwidth.”

As for video over IP, Kennedy sees the potential. The hope is to begin utilizing this technology as the network infrastructure evolves and bandwidth increases. But, he said, “We’re not there yet. The technology is still evolving and security concerns need to be addressed.” He is concentrating on switchers with HDBaseT outputs.

SKILL UP WITH ALEXA

As with many notable projects, Kennedy’s Alexa Classroom initiative began in his home office. “It is a personal project that I’ve been working on over these past 18 months at home,” he said. “I probably rewrote the codes 10 times, so it was a process.” Eventually, he got it working, and once it was operational, he presented it to the university with a request: “Can we beta test this and see what we can do with it?” The university agreed.

“I’ve done alpha testing in all the buildings to present a proof of concept that I can get it working,” Kennedy added. Currently, he and the team are discussing methods for the pilot to make sure everything is transparent and above board. A key element of this stage is working out security issues with The University of Scranton’s IT department.

“What we don’t want to do is initiate a pilot launch and fail,” he said. The Alexa Classroom pilot would indeed be a project too big to fail, so, Kennedy assured, “we want to make sure everybody and everything is protected in this and that it launches successfully. Our current mission is to have our pilot take place over this summer and next semester, where we have select faculty on campus actually use it.” During this critical phase, he and the team will request and analyze feedback from users.

AI: THE NEXT FRONTIER

While connected digital devices and digital assistants are rapidly growing in popularity, opinions vary on AI. How much is too much? Aren’t we already too closely tracked and monitored by Google and other Silicon Valley companies?

Kennedy acknowledges that there are often two types of feedback when the topic of AI is broached. “There’s the nervous feedback, and there are the people that love it,” he said. His personal experience with younger generations is that they have zero hesitation about AI or new technologies. “They love technology. They have embraced it fully, and they want it all ‘smart.’”

For the hesitant users, education and training can help alleviate concerns. The design also would make Alexa in the classroom optional. “The beauty of the Alexa skill is that you don’t have to use it if you don’t want. You can use the touchpanel.”

Kennedy confirmed that the AV team is not removing touchpanels from the campus. Alexa would be “just another piece that operates the Extron processor that controls the classroom equipment.”

SEAMLESS, INTEGRATED EXPERIENCES

At the heart of it, AI for classroom designs has “amazing promise,” according to Kennedy. “[It offers] the ability to streamline functions for faculty, so that the faculty don’t even have to think about control. With artificial intelligence, you’re able to get quick answers that don’t have to be calculated out.”

AI FOR ADA COMPLIANCE AND COLLABORATION

Kennedy is also excited about integrating AI and AV for ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance, as voice activation supports users with limited mobility. He also wants to leverage AI’s collaborative potential. “Imagine faculty having the freedom to move about in active learning spaces while maintaining the ability to share student content from one team with the entire class by using a simple voice command from anywhere in the room. Imagine faculty and students with disabilities having the ability to operate classroom technology without the need of specialized assistive devices. I think it’s an amazing opportunity.”

BEST PRACTICES FOR AI AND PRO AV

As the Alexa Classroom skill is in beta, Kennedy is developing best practices. “That is why, with this particular program, I had to redo it from scratch a few times, because I learned the best practice as I went.”

He is committed to breaking down the skill in detail so that when the Alexa piece is done, there is a module to drag into an Extron processor to link all commands. That would eliminate the need to do coding at that level.

Ultimately, Kennedy is optimistic that the industry will be receptive to an innovation of this ilk for classroom AV. “I’ve been able to streamline it to where it’s a very usable skill and easily incorporated into Exton’s Global Scripter for Pro Series control systems. I’m hoping to get more institutions that are willing to help me pilot it. They can tell me what’s missing.” He also proffered another request: “One of the things I could use is, actually, an expert in Amazon’s Web Services (AWS)” for cloud computing services.

Just like at The University of Scranton, for Robert Kennedy, the learning never stops.

Margot Douaihy, a Scranton native, is the editor-at-large of AV Technology magazine, winner of the 2018 Jesse H. Neal Award for Best B2B Media Brand.

AI: Disruptive and Dynamic

“AI promises to be the most disruptive class of technologies during the next 10 years due to advances in computational power, volume, velocity and variety of data, as well as advances in deep neural networks (DNNs),” said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. “One of the biggest aggregate sources for AI-enhanced products and services acquired by enterprises between 2017 and 2022 will be niche solutions that address one need very well. Business executives will drive investment in these products, sourced from thousands of narrowly focused, specialist suppliers with specific AI-enhanced applications.” Courtesy of Gartner.com

UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON SPOTLIGHT:
Classroom AV Equipment

• 1 Amazon Echo
• 1 Extron TLP Pro 720T Touch Panel
• 1 Extron DTP CrossPoint 82 4K IPCP MA 70
• 2 Panasonic PT-RZ570 projectors
• 1 Samsung SDP 860 Digital Presenter Document Camera
• 1 Extron ShareLink 200 N (Wireless Collaboration Gateway)
• 1 Roku Streaming Media Player