I was visiting a co-worker’s office recently and was surprised by their technology setup. They had a single monitor as an external display for their laptop. They used the mic, speakers and camera on their laptop (which is off to the side) for Zoom calls. I began to wonder how this person could possibly be […]

Over the past several years, software has become a significant source of revenue in the AV industry. The approach to providing software can vary widely amongst different vendors. Some “give” their software away since it only works with their equipment. Of course, we all know we are paying for that software when we buy the […]

Late August to early September is the time when students flood back onto college campuses, many of them bringing with them their shiny new sneakers and their brand-new backpacks. They have had a summer filled with fun (hopefully) and are ready to dive into another year of learning. For the tech managers in higher education, […]

CEDIA Expo 2023 will be filled with new HomeAV gear; no doubt about it. And, although I can’t predict what product will impress all the attendees the most, I can — without doubt — predict what trend will dominate in nearly every booth: AI. AI will be everywhere, thanks to some of the most unimaginative […]

By Shubham Kumar and Olivia Lowden Futuresource Consulting After a spell of limited innovation during the pandemic, professional pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras are entering a new technological era. Futuresource Consulting’s brand-new report reveals that AI and automation are the powerhouses behind many of the new-generation products entering the market, with auto-tracking, facial recognition, and automated camera […]

I am sure, by now, you’ve likely read all the stories about Zoom demanding all its employees — living within 50 miles of any Zoom office — start working in the office at least two days a week, some three days a week. This, to me, is a bit ironic as, in 2022, Zoom published […]

On July 4, The Sphere lit up on the Vegas Strip for the first time, and the buzz about it went viral. I doubt there is a single person in the AV/IT industry who has not seen or heard about the Sphere, but even if you have it is worth taking a few minutes and […]

For the very first time, the world governing body for basketball allowed a state-of-the-art court with an interactive video floor. In Madrid, the site of the FIBA Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023, players dribbled over an innovative ASB GlassFloor. While fans didn’t “dribble” in the same way, their mouths were certainly left agape. The […]

You need to update your website. What’s that? You don’t have time? You don’t know how? No one on your staff has the skills? You can’t afford to hire a contractor to overhaul your copy? No more excuses: Find $20 per month, and hire ChatGPT or one of the many other Large Language Model (LLM) […]

Hi everyone! Thanks for joining us on AI Appreciation Day! This is a subject we have often talked about here at rAVe, particularly as it relates to the way in which it will change the face of ProAV. While artificial intelligence is still relatively new, in that we don’t have a ton of regulations or […]

AI is one of the most consequential and fast-moving technologies we have seen in years. The speed of change and drastic impact of that change will cause people to react quickly, go with the crowd and make poor decisions about how the technologies will be used in their businesses. No one, not even higher ed […]

By Ken Kobayashi Sony AI is a trending topic that has been gaining traction and dominating mindshare in the news and the technology space. It is one of the most exciting, disruptive and controversial technologies in recent memory but with a bit of education and context, it is easy to see the extreme promise and […]

    In honor of AI Day, which is held annually on July 16, I dug a little bit into the history and predicted future of artificial intelligence (AI). Here are seven fun facts I found about AI: AI Fun Fact 1 The term “artificial intelligence” was publicly debuted in 1956 at the Dartmouth Conference; […]

By Stefan Marti Shure Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the audio industry. At least, that’s what we’ve heard lately — AI is creating new music, making it possible for your two favorite artists to release a collaboration, or even produce and release a brand-new song by The Beatles that had never been created before. What […]

By Steve Wick IDEA I’ve been an educator for almost 30 years, and I’ve seen some pretty significant changes, but I can’t think of anything that has created more stir than the emergence of generative Artificial Intelligence as a tool for teaching and learning. The potential of AI is only limited by human imagination and […]

  In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool in various industries, revolutionizing the way we live and work. One of the most promising applications of AI lies in the realm of safety and security. From preventing physical threats to enhancing physical security measures, AI is transforming the landscape of protection. […]

My family has a saying, long attributed to my grandfather: “We can’t afford an elephant, but since they’re half price we’ll take TWO!” There’s just something compelling about getting a bargain. That applies not only to people as end users but to businesses too. My category managers at my work regularly negotiate special buys and […]

In this blog, I have often written about listening to your customers. Usually, I focus on designing and selling products and solutions, to be sure they are what the customer needs, not what we want to sell them or think they need. Today I am writing about customer service when it comes to repair, maintenance […]

I’m a huge fan of authors who write about behavioral economics and human behavior. My shelves are full of books by Geoff Colvin, Dan Ariely, Daniel Kahneman, Chip and Dan Heath, Barry Schwartz, Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt, and Malcolm Gladwell. The latest book I read by Gladwell was “The Bomber Mafia,” Gladwell’s effort […]

This is the second and final part of a series. For the first part, click here. Third Phase of a Mature AV Estate — Evolving the Stack While our users will be pretty happy at this point, trouble is undoubtedly brewing. They are out there finding new software and functionality that they want to make […]

Sustainability has been a hot topic in the AV world over the past few years. Many manufacturers have expanded and touted their sustainability efforts, and customers are pushing for sustainable options. The sustainability of companies involves everything from their policies and practices at their headquarters and offices to the products they sell and end up […]

I am sooooo excited. I found out today that Logitech will bring the coolest thing I’ve seen in UCC to InfoComm 2023 — Project Ghost. What the heck is Project Ghost? Well, it’s a fully formed, turnkey telepresence system for small meetings, and it WORKS! The best way to describe it is for you to […]

Greetings, AV friends, from your too-long absent pixel and ink-stained wretch. The last few years have seen some big changes for all of us, including a shift to full-time remote work and, eventually, back to a physical office. Personally, I have returned to my commute and in-person work as of late last year. It’s been […]

As I sit down to write this blog, InfoComm is only a few weeks away. I am very excited to see the energy, excitement and turnout at InfoComm 2023, which I expect to be the first back-to-normal InfoComm in three years. Coincidentally, for those of us in higher education, this time of the year is […]

NASA recently named the four astronauts flying on NASA’s Artemis 2 moon mission in 2024. They will be the first people to travel to lunar in more than 50 years. But Artemis 2 will be carrying more than astronauts in its payload. NASA will send up a new laser communications terminal, the Orion Artemis 2 […]

Sustainability has been on the mind this past month as Earth Day provided a time to reflect on our human impact on the environment and ways we can curb some of those effects. We wanted to hear about how your companies are addressing sustainability and what efforts you think are making a difference in the […]

In April, my wife and I took a vacation trip to Florida. On our way back we had a layover in New Jersey — but our first plane was delayed and we now only had an hour and a half. So, when we landed, we were in a rush to get to our new gate, […]

Commercial Integrator and rAVe [PUBS] collaborated with AV industry leaders to raise $15,000 to support sustainability initiatives and trumpet our collective responsibility to be Earth-friendly. By Dan Ferrisi Commercial Integrator Sustainability in AV issues took center stage when Commercial Integrator and rAVe [PUBS] collaborated on a LAVNCH & LEARN. The webinar, titled “Sustainability & AV,” […]

With AI rolling across the tech landscape, we’re entering new territories — a Wild West of content creation where no one has gone before. In Europe, an AI-generated “interview” with Formula 1 racing legend Michael Schumacher highlights the danger (Schumacher has not been seen in public since his brain injury in a skiing accident in […]

We often use terms like “culture” when talking about companies, and often associate this with whether a place is a good place to work or not. To really understand culture and how it affects the workplace we first need to understand the definition of culture. Culture is the shared values, attitudes and behaviors that define […]

Over the past decade or so, I have been rather lucky to have the opportunity to observe and understand the state of audiovisual and videoconferencing environments across various organizations. For the most part, things work pretty solidly. At least for users. But beyond that, most organizations that I have seen have never really taken things […]

During the pandemic, there was a decent amount of discussion about the future of trade shows. Predictably, these theories ranged from “they would go fully virtual” to “they spring right back and be just as big as before.” I think that those who predicted a spring back to the “old days” were closer to the […]