Just came back with Brian from the Tech Expo at the HUB. There were about 20-25 vendors showing their high tech array of resources and services.
I spent time talking with four vendors, two of them with Brian. The ones Brian and I saw were about video production and AMX-brand media controllers. I don’t remember the company that was showing off their integrated, network-oriented, production-class video capturing, transcoding, editing, streaming and publishing system. As you can imagine from the description, it was pretty freaking cool. The salient point I took away was that they were working on a system that was sensitive to:
- multiple editing platforms under one roof
- rapid digital video downloading from direct-capture video hard drives
- flexible, end-user-selectable, exporting and publishing
- simultaneous, network-based project workflow
The second vendor was AMX and Brian could really talk more about that visit. The one cool thing I took from there was that they have recognized the potential impact of the iPad and are developing an app that would allow you to control their switcher as an alternative to their pricey, proprietary controllers!
The place I spent most of my time was with AVRover.com, a vendor that has exclusive distributing rights over the OnFinity interactive whiteboard system. It takes the concept of a SMART Board to a new level. Being wand-based, one can now interact with projected content that is up to 12.5 feet! The hardware-software solution works with any app and was very responsive. It wasn’t cheap though: $863 and $2900 if you buy it integrated with a very well thought out portable projector, speaker system, full input and output panels and a secure shell that brought the system weight to 17 lb that fits in an included roller suitcase.
Given the price, the next vendor had a very interesting alternative: a wireless tablet. Simple and easy to use. I think they come in at under $300. The problem is, not every one is comfortable working with a tablet.
All-in-all a very interesting expo and worth the hour and a half we had to spend walking around. Now, we’ll have to cross our fingers about winning the door prizes 🙂