by Jeff Hastings, CEO of BrightSign, LLC
People often ask me what to expect from ISE, and I think this year will mostly be a year of incremental upgrades, rather than a breakthrough year. Everything I’ve seen points to there actually being fewer vendors in attendance due to massive consolidation across the industry. People are focusing on quality and come to shows like ISE with the mindset of “I’ve had this experience already, what can I learn at ISE to help me do a new roll-out with different technologies that provides a better experience?” We love that because at the core of our product is great technology and high reliability, so customers – old and new – are coming to us for that better experience. Knowledgeable customers are good for BrightSign, and we definitely welcome them with open arms.
In terms of trends, I think we’ll see a focus on new interfaces, such as voice and AR plus a demand for media players that can deliver 4K live-streaming media.
I think we’re still a ways off, but digital signage interacting with voice-enabled products is certainly exciting, in particular for retail. We’ll undoubtedly see demos of voice interaction at ISE, but the actual roll-outs in 2018 are less realistic.
Another trend we’ll likely encounter at ISE is AI as a means of generating appropriate content, but you obviously need a data source to do that. With many customers using more of the overall bigger picture data approach, you can correlate time of day, etc., to tailor content on the display. You can get even more personalized if you’re able to use cookies to tag the person who is interacting with the display, but it can also be unsettling for the user. Big Brother is watching you!
Finally, you can expect to see live streaming media as a growing trend in signage. Imagine walking up to a shopping mall and seeing a live product demonstration, concert or book signing beamed in real time from one of the stores inside. Dolby Vision is leading the way in 4K HDR video and I’m excited to be able to showcase the first of our new BrightSign Series 4 players which will be shipping in Q2 2018; the XD4 and XT4 have been specifically designed to support Dolby Vision and HDR10+.
We are constantly looking to improve our award-winning players and build-in support for the newest video formats. The new models offer even better performance and support the latest, most advanced form of 4K HDR video by Dolby Vision.
On our stand we’ll also be showcasing integrated solutions with our OPS partner NEC as well as BrightSign Built-In DSM (digital signage module) solutions with our partners AVNU and Industrial Image. Finally, at the BrightSign booth we will have demonstrations of conference room scheduling, 4K HDR 10 and 4K Dolby Vision decoding, BrightAuthor, BrightSign App interactivity and more.
I very much look forward to seeing you at booth G240, Hall 8 at ISE from February 6th – 9th at RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam.
About the Author
BrightSign CEO Jeff Hastings joined BrightSign in August 2009 while it was still a division of Roku Inc. In late 2010 with digital signage activities growing so rapidly, BrightSign became a separate firm. The holder of eight U.S. patents, he also has a history of tech industry leadership, including as president of mp3 pioneer Rio.
