- By Mary Bakija
Savant recently unveiled the commercial side of its Experience Center, located in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. I visited the residential space when it opened last year, and now having seen the entire 8,000-square-foot space, it’s clear Savant has created a stunning arena for its products.
In the sports bar area, the bartender can switch any of the eight video sources to any of the 12 displays through Savant’s 18.5-inch TouchTV and Desktop Charging Dock for iPad.
Designed by Thom Filicia, host of Dress My Nest on the Style Network and previously a member of the Fab Five on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the luxurious loft is first separated into the two spaces, residential and commercial, and then broken down further from there. The new commercial space is designed to show some of the many possible applications for Savant products.
Upon entering the commercial side of the Experience Center, you’re welcomed by a reception area with digital signage that sits in front of the executive boardroom. Designed for the current demands for interactivity and conferencing applications, the 10-seat room features Savant’s In-Wall Charging Dock for iPad, Desktop Charging Dock for iPad, 18.5-inch TouchTV, and more.
In the conference room, and throughout the space, there is a specific concentration on being green. “Energy management is a growing concern across the board,” said Savant CEO Robert Madonna. “We’ve incorporated that into these systems, into the lighting control and window shades and power management, the same way users can be working them into their projects.”
The space that has the company most excited is the classroom, which is outfitted in a similar way to the conference room--it demonstrates how professors may use the smart classroom for distance learning and podcasting. Savant is just entering the education space, and the company believes that as the price of the iPad and iPods continues to drop, the adoption in high schools and universities will increase.
Another new market Savant has entered is hotels, and this section of the Experience Center is most reminiscent, naturally, of the residential side. The high-end hotel suite shows how a guest would be able to access and control the room easily, especially when encountering the control via Savant’s TrueImage Control (which is also showcased on every iPad throughout the Experience Center). TrueImage uses actual images of the room for control, so a guest can intuitively tap the lamp in the photo, for instance, to turn it on or off.
In the digital signage gallery, Savant’s On-Screen Display technology enables interactive content to be distinctively overlayed over live video.
The other spaces in the Experience Center include a sports bar, a telepresence room, and a digital signage gallery. The overall experience leaves the visitor with a real-world impression of how Savant’s ROSIE control and entertainment systems operate.
