Last year was great for innovation in AV and related industries and 2017 has the potential to be even better. With the IT and CE majors now taking AV seriously, the goal of ‘AV everywhere’ isn’t so far away. These are the AV News’ contributors’ predictions of the milestones to be passed this year.
Retail displays
According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global retail display market is expected to grow at a CAGR of almost 16% between 2017 and 2021. One of the most important factors driving this market is the advantages that retail displays are said to provide over traditional advertisement methods. Retail displays are capable of effectively utilising advanced audio-visual technologies and increase the impact of the advertisement on the customers. Additionally, using retail displays also means no wastage of paper, higher audience engagement, overcoming spatial limitations, and dynamic control over targeted content. Other key drivers of this market are the rising demand for convenient and a user-friendly shopping environment, and evolution of shopping as a form of entertainment.
Voice control
Voice control is vying to become the primary user interface for the smart home and connected lifestyle, beginning in 2017. At CES 2017, Nucleus (video intercoms), Invoxia (Triby portable speaker) and Pebble (Core watch) will showcase Alexa Voice Services (AVS)-enabled products. Ford Motor Co is expected to bridge the car and the smart home, to allow you to use Alexa voice commands in one location to trigger events at the other. LG is said to be incorporating Alexa into its SmartThinQ speaker and home automation hub. Amazon itself is expected to release an Alexa hub with a 7-inch touchscreen in 2017.
Alexa Echo: Voice control is vying to become the primary user interface for the smart home and connected lifestyle.
Connected CE
CE manufacturers are predicted to focus on new product categories and ecosystem strategies to compensate for stagnation in mature markets. The smart home industry will continue to develop new use cases for security, peace of mind, and energy management. Insurers will explore new business opportunities in smart home products and services and will continue to launch trials and new partnerships.
Mobile devices
As mobile devices evolve, mobile users are seemingly becoming more accident prone. Ady Moores, CEO of P2i predicts that water resistant handsets, already the fastest growing segment in the smartphone category, will become increasingly sought after: “Going into 2017, the future of handset design is definitely changing as consumer expectations rise. With liquid damage the second most common cause of damage after shattered screens, representing nearly a third of (35%) of all devices repaired, water resistance has very quickly become an expected feature on smartphones. In fact, IDC estimates that over 328 million smartphones were damaged in 2015 because of accidents with liquids, which represents a total cost of $96.7 billion. Overall, however, the smartphone market is predicted to plateau, and mobile carriers are expected to experiment I order to retain subscribers (thereby threatening fixed broadband services).
Smartphone sales will plateau overall. but water resistant handsets will be the fastest growing segment in the smartphone category.
Virtual /Augmented Reality
Virtual and augmented reality will grow their foothold in niche operations and greater awareness among early adopters, creating opportunities for social VR experiences. Edgar Dias, senior regional director at Brocade predicts the release of promising new AR systems is on the horizon. These VR and AR systems will focus primarily on entertainment and education in 2017. These will be used as experimental applications in communications, data visualization, and enterprise situational awareness as the platforms become more established toward mid to late 2017.
Growth markets for VR will include education: students are already learning with zSpace STEM labs.
Network ubiquity
2017 is expected to see continued disaggregation of hardware and software leading to more cost-effective networks, at increased capacity, offering more flexible service models across an expanding footprint. Edgar Dias of Brocade predicts that there will be advancement in wireless network technology, as well as a subtle shift in security postures of enterprise endpoints. Users will be more connected, more often, to the networked resources they need to be most effective.
Wireless devices will begin to use multiple networks simultaneously, shifting data traffic seamlessly as network connectivity changes due to capacity, resource connectivity, and mobility. In parallel, a new generation of wireless networks will begin to adapt to user demand by shifting capacity to where it is needed. This new status quo for wireless connectivity, which will begin to emerge in 2017. There will be a nearly-invisible unification of different wireless networks behind the scenes of an always-on, high-capacity wireless user experience.
Connected Cars
Consumers increasingly expect connectivity in their cars, but pricing, safety, and data privacy concerns inhibit market growth. Opportunities to improve vehicle maintenance and driver convenience are already being explored by carmakers, but the real opportunities are only just beginning to become apparent. In 2017, users will begin to realize the promise of being able to connect their cars and homes, to share telemetry and driving conditions with nearby vehicles, and integrate more fully with the driver’s IT experience – safely integrating personal calendars, messaging apps, etc., into the driving experience.
Connected cars, like this Volvo concept, will feature self-drive capabilities.
Wearables
The market for wearables and smart watches will expand as healthcare tools and will be integrated with other IoT applications. Consumerization of healthcare services and devices drives integration with smart home ecosystems and new business models.
The consumerisation of healthcare will boost sales of medical wearables.
Internet of Things
In 2017, the IoT market will begin to develop standards that make its platforms more secure, as well as more open and sustainable. In addition to easing consumers’ minds, these standards will enable an IoT ecosystem that increasingly appeals to enterprises, allows service providers to create innovative services and enable advanced use cases.
Samsung’s smart fridge – an early example of consumer adoption of the IoT.
Machine Learning
In 2017, Machine Learning (ML) will expand as a fundamental technology driving innovation in every industry. In the context of network technology, ML techniques will be applied to problems that were previously thought to be impractical to solve. Next year, ML will become a discipline in its own right, and no longer confused with AI. Machine learning is about remembering while AI is about thinking and deciding. ML, in apps, internet services and user interfaces is all about improving over time, learning and assimilating users’ tastes and preferences.
Bring Your Own Device
Enterprises have had to face challenges with BYOD. AKA “Shadow IT”, BYOD describes situations in which their users bring their own devices, manage their own apps and data, and use their own personal collaboration tools to perform their job. Despite potential dangers, BYOD will continue to grow as enterprise IT is unable to compete with features, ease of use, and reliability of some consumer services. In the face of BYOD, corporate security teams will continue to struggle. While some organisations will attempt to legislate security via corporate policy, in 2017 Edgar Dias of Brocade believes that the most enlightened companies will recognise the implicit threat of sub-par IT services. The most successful IT and security teams will collaborate on simultaneously modernising and securing their infrastructure with SDN, orchestrated NFV security services and advanced encryption and identity management, with integration of cloud services, and compartmentalisation of local apps.
Commercial drones
In 2017, advancements will further push drone technology into other industries such as communication, transportation and infrastructure. American pundits believe 2017 will the year when commercial deliveries by drone will commence. Early adopters will include fast food delivery. It is said that others will soon follow in their footsteps, even to the point where fresh groceries could arrive un-manned as soon as you get customers get home from work.
Commercial deliveries by drone will commence in 2017.
