• Alloys stays at the forefront of new technology trends

Alloys stays at the forefront of new technology trends

Written by Dave Guttmann, Strategic Alliance Director, Alloys

To ensure we are always providing our customers with the most advanced and future-proofed technology, it's essential that our staff stay across the latest global tech trends. To achieve this, I had the pleasure of recently hosting a tour of the annual Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) Tradeshow in Amsterdam to check out the latest tech coming out of Europe. The trade show is the largest of its kind with 15 halls covering 53,000sqm and 1,296 exhibitors of AV and systems integration technologies. 

The week saw us examining and playing with lots of new tech toys and discussing the changing face of technology with some incredibly intelligent and passionate people. Here are just a few of my key takeaways:

  • We are noticing traditional print companies expanding into the tech space. With a focus on collaboration, these suppliers are investing in huddle rooms, Interactive technology and anything enabling frictionless communications. Some do it better than others.
  • Projectors are going laser, laser, laser! All projection suppliers were focused on their laser products, many launching new products at the show and some with incredible 20 and 25K lumen projectors at the event. The key messaging from the manufacturers is around reduced operating costs and a more consistent performance for longer. 
  • Digital Signage applications are growing exponentially as the technology improves. Not only is Digital Signage being used in airports, restaurants, hotels etc. now with the advent of transparent signage, floor signage, curved signage, interactive signage, the sky is the limit for the application of these products.
  • AV over IP is a growing technology with most of the suppliers exhibiting at the show having a version of this technology. 
  • With projection technology evolving, the science and art of mapping technologies is becoming more important as it connects directly to the customer experience. We saw more and more applications of immersive experiences, mapping and spotlight projections.
  • The education space was filled with people talking about Interactive technology experiences for their students and their teachers - both projectors and the emerging Interactive Flat Panel products. What impressed me is the software enhancements and the significant investment in applications being made in this space which is fuelling the uptake in this area - predominantly creating net new sales or replacing the old Interactive White Boards (IWB) that have populated our classrooms. 

Some of the key technologies we saw taking a more prominent stage include:

  1. The emergence of Micro LED - which is incredibly high resolution LED (which has traditionally been lower resolution for outside signage applications) Still currently quite expensive, but watch for the this technology to be adopted as cost to produce and manufacture drops and new markets are found. My favourite take on this emerging technology was Sony's C-LED which I describe as a scaleable digital canvas.....it was awesome.
  2. Interactive Flat Panels - there where more than 20 suppliers touting their wares - although the companies that I thought did a better job where more focused aligning their designs and software with the way in which teachers teach and students learn. Others where pitching low cost and specs only - not so inspiring.
  3. Z Wave technology was amazing and there was a whole stand dedicated to a dozen or so companies (Z-wave Alliance) focused on achieving smart home outcomes using Zwave- an emerging protocol for communications. I particularly liked Fibaro which is a retro-fitable lighting control system.

All-in-all it was an inspiring event and we got lots of great ideas to share with our Australian partners. So if Alloys doesn’t already have solutions in this space, you can rest assured that we are monitoring them very closely, and when we feel the technology is right for our Australian partners, our solutions team will offer you only the best solutions.

If there are specific technologies your customers are looking for, please get in touch with myself or your Alloys Account Manager to see what we can do.


Me and Di Elliott our National Alliance Manager - Technology


Epson multi-projector image with image mapping


Example of digital signage application


LED digital signage - ceiling hung


Micro-LED by Samsung "the wall"

 

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