Is the Latest the Greatest? | Small World AV
Our AV industry is always looking at the latest trends. This is especially important in higher ed even more so at a smaller school like mine. We are trying to find the best ways to support our user needs. We need equipment that is reliable and easy to use. This month, I will attempt to spend a bit of time touching on some of the themes that I have noticed over the last year.
Cameras
Cameras are here to stay, but just not any camera. Most of the cameras being installed now in higher ed feature some form of auto-tracking. This has quickly emerged as the new standard. PTZ cameras work just fine but no one wants the hassle of having to mess with them at least in most classrooms. The user wants the camera to know when and where it should be located and it should adjust if something changes like when a new person enters the room. Some cameras track via motion some via audio and others via a mixture. I think the key trend here, though, is that people are getting used to the fact that it just works. They don’t have to worry about where the camera is and so on. The system is even more attractive if you can easily record to your service of choice so that your content can be posted on the course page of your LMS.
A Minimalistic, Cloud-Based Design
Another trend I am seeing across campuses is the fact that we are slowly but surely moving away from a box for this and a box for that. Our racks are getting emptier and emptier as more services are moved to the cloud and as the computer people bring or the computer in the classroom does most of the heavy lifting. More is being demanded of software like Zoom and Panopto. We still will have an amp and a display and a way to turn things on but even the matrix switcher’s days are numbered in most cases since AVoIP can give us what we need. This makes it easier to support from afar and hopefully, we have less that can fail in each room even with the addition of the camera and mic that were not there five years ago. These new components are also more software-driven. The new camera and mic should get smarter and add new features over time and the DSP might even be completely software-based as well (at least that is what Shure is trying to do).
Package Deals
Purchase models and services rendered are changing a bit as well. We used to have a list of items you needed to have for each install and then someone had to add them to the room and make it all work together. That is going away to some degree, especially with smaller rooms. You buy a whole package that comes with a display, speaker, camera, mic, and a way to control the system. These box sales allow for easier deployment and you almost are ordering off a menu to some degree. The solutions don’t always solve every issue but do help in a lot of these cases where the space just needs to be able to connect to a meeting. DTEN and Neat are in business, especially for these types of rooms that are popular in higher ed but also elsewhere.
Making the old, new.
eGlass is another product that is on the rise because it allows teachers to produce good content with something that they are familiar with. I see this sort of tech being used more in a studio that allows you to record a session but I suppose a classroom that needs this could also have one to use. My main takeaway normally with most new offerings is how will this new piece to the puzzle help faculty teach? I don’t want to install and buy something just because it is trendy but instead, I want to resource those on campus with what they want and give them better tools to help make their job easier. We need to remember that we play for the same team and that we should always be trying to go in the same direction as those teaching the students.
In conclusion, things seem to be moving to less happening in each room but more focused on displaying the content and recording the session.
Simplicity and dependability are still kings, though.
I did not get into all of the metaverse craziness, but that is coming in some form as well. I don’t see that taking form, at least at smaller schools, at this point in time. With InfoComm around the corner, we will see if these trends take a different turn or if we simply get more offerings of the same flavor. All the best as you help support the latest in tech across your campus!
