3 Big AV Trends That Will Excite and Engage Your Attendees

Buffer

AV is a unique element of events. Most people, upon hearing the term, think of monitors and microphones and leave it at that. But thanks to the exponential growth of technology, it’s pretty much everywhere at every event. It can be used for everything from providing big visuals that excite attendees to providing helpful and clear instructions to help attendees find their way around your event.

Today we’re looking at the top 3 trends in event AV that are guaranteed to engage and excite your attendees.

Top Trends of 2017

Projection Mapping

Projection mapping has been growing somewhat quietly but it’ll definitely reach new heights of popularity this year. Projection or Video mapping allows organizers to project images or video onto any multidimensional shape (typically large buildings or walls) in order to create high impact visual art. Cinderella’s Castle at Disneyland is an oft-cited example, but here’s another example of just how mind-blowingly impressive projection mapping can be:

“The winner of both the Jury’s Choice and People’s Choice awards at the 2016 iMapp Bucharest competition, Interconnection transformed Bucharest’s Palace of Parliament into a psychotropic exploration of the interconnectedness of all things.” – Check out a few more projection mapping demos here.

There are a handful of 3D projection mapping companies with whom event organizers can partner to bring some really impressive displays to their events. Be sure to visit Limelight, Go2 Productions, or Chicago Projection Mapping.

Augmented & Virtual Reality

Augmented and Virtual reality, although sometimes used interchangibly, are two different things but built on a similar conceit: what if we could immerse ourselves in the worlds we create? Augmented reality gained an incredible amount of popularity last summer with the release of the game, PokémonGo. Augmented reality blends virtual content with the real world while still allowing users to differentiate between the two. Meanwhile, virtual reality, which has gained rapid popularity after the release of VR devices like Google Cardboard and the Oculus Rift, allows users to immerse themselves in completely virtual worlds.

Both have caught on at events in a big way as event organizers have begun to incorporate these technologies for gamification, to allow exhibitors to provide virtual demonstrations of large or immovable products, and even to extend their events into virtual spaces.

According to Augmented Reality expert and EventFX CEO, Dave Lorenzini in an interview with Eventbrite, “AR is not a fad or advertising gimmick.  This is something every organisation needs to get ready for now, because AR + smart glasses + connected devices (aka “the internet of things”) will combine to create the next net (web 3.0) in the world around us, right before our eyes.”

EventFX is a firm that provides arresting AR and VR visual effects that stop attendees in their tracks and encourages engagement through gestures and voice interactivity.

Gesture Media & Large Scale Interactivity

Good news for event speakers who like to talk with their hands, now they can use gesture to control their presentations too. Gesture based controllers like the Myo and Leap Motion are allowing speakers and presenters to drop their pointers and clickers and opt for device controlling wearables to change slides, zoom in and out of images, switch between cameras pointed to the stage, demo products, and much much more.

But of course speakers and presenters aren’t the only participants who should be able to interact, consider the increasing popularity if large-scale touchscreens and kiosks which allow attendees to access or exchange information, play games, and engage with multimedia. Interactive displays like those offered by SocialPoint, photobooths from vendors like SelfieMIR, and super large scale kiosks like those from Planar are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to touch-based interactivity offerings to help engage, entertain, and inform your event attendees.