Closing off 2020, we celebrate the Inavate EMEA 40 Under 40, take stock of some of the sectors hardest hit by Covid-19, and applaud the curiosity of Professor Cox.
Let’s start with some technology news.
After a two-year wait LG finally put its
rollable OLED, first spotted at CES 2019, up for sale. At $87,000 (approximately €70,000) that probably wasn’t news that had many of us rushing to the shops. Commentators suggested the displays might find their way into use in the first class cabins of airplanes, or top end hotels. Possible, but in a list of sectors that had a shocking 2020, hospitality and transport are up there. Not sure those LG screens will be flying off the shelves any time soon.
Meanwhile, other display manufacturers were getting busy with their own inventions.
Sony debuted a glasses-free 3D display while
Samsung researchers developed a 4K hologram. Teams from Universities in Japan and the US developed a
tiny RGB laser projector and
OLED with 10,000 pixels per inch. Both breakthroughs are tipped for use in wearables.
The close of 2020 was also when we first heard of
Portl. A few of you will wince as the manufacturer describes its product a “a holoportation machine” creating “holograms” of people. Actually, let me correct, that… ALL of you will wince. Carefree use of terms that actually mean something totally different to what Portl is doing aside, the product is pretty cool and comes with the backing of the sort of investors that make you think “that’s not the last we’ve seen of that”.
Inavate EMEA 40 Under 40
The last quarter is when we
reveal the Inavate EMEA 40 Under 40 and, this year, sifting through the entries and writing up the annual guide to the 40 professionals featured was a genuinely rewarding task.
In a year in which so many had lost jobs and struggled to keep companies afloat, a year in which people’s personal and professional lives were simultaneously turned upside down, and year that dealt a hefty blow to numerous viable companies that were operating successfully before the pandemic hit, we were suddenly hearing stories of people that had overcome immense challenges creatively and effectively.
It was heartening and focused us on the future, where we expect to see more from these talented individuals. This year especially we were pleased to able to shine a light on these remarkable people and celebrate success.
We can't escape Covid-19
Covid-19 is still grabbing all the headlines. In our news section we learnt that
coronavirus can hang around on touch screens for 28 days… personally I wouldn’t want to touch a screen that hadn’t been cleaned for a month even when there isn’t a global pandemic on. We also had a little look around the world to see how different
countries were planning to ring in 2021 without encouraging, much less entertaining, large crowds.
We also got in touch with a few people working in live events to see
what they saw coming in 2021. This is a sector tragically hit by the pandemic. With large gatherings off the cards and a workforce heavily skewed to freelance employment, the industry was ravaged. Those that work in the sector however have been creative and successful in highlighting their plight to governments and the wider public through initiatives like #WeMakeEvents. They’ve worked hard to raise money and compensation for themselves but have also seen support from musicians and manufacturers. Powersoft’s initiative to donate cash from the sales of touring amplifiers had
generated nearly €50,000 by November.
In more in-depth analysis we looked at
how Covid-19 had affected education spend and
AV related tools to help encourage and enforce social distancing.
Highlights of the quarter
With 2020 behind us, perhaps you’re thinking how will we do business in 2021? How about as avatars never leaving the confines of our houses? Hopefully not, but that’s not to say that VR isn’t likely to be a more widely used business tool in the future. Find out more in
Paul Milligan’s excellent take on where VR might fit into enterprise communications now and in the years to come.
Finally, to close off I’d like to draw your attention to Professor Trevor Cox who embarked on one of my favourite AV related projects of the year. Setting out to
find out what Stonehenge would have sounded like, Cox employed a range of acoustic measuring tools and techniques. The work, he carried out largely in his own time, demonstrates just how strong a driving force curiosity can be.