The 2024 edition of Mobile World Congress, which opened in Barcelona on February 26, still does not attract as many participants as before the coronavirus pandemic (compared to 109,000 in 2019). (about 95,000 this year), and it’s not because innovation has slowed down. Communication technology is slowing down.
In fact, due to human influence, Intelligence in communications technology has led to innovations that are expected by almost everyone, from consumers to meeting planners. want to know about.
With 2,400 companies exhibiting at the 2 million square foot exhibition hall, technology giants Apple and Google are among the companies showcasing applications that could be used in the business events industry. First, Apple released its Vision Pro “mixed reality” headset three weeks before the show, and is letting MWC attendees demo the device on its exhibition stand. As a replacement for Meta’s $1,000 Quest Pro virtual reality headset, the $3,500 Vision Pro is powered by artificial intelligence-derived programming, the company says. This allows for both augmented reality (overlaying data and graphics onto a real environment) and virtual reality (immersion in a completely different environment) through the headset.
This is an example of a potential conferencing application. Visual Chris Mix, executive creative producer at Mixperience, a storytelling and production design company, previously worked for several years on content and design elements for life science conferences, using both AR and VR. I’ve been working on it. The headset is currently in production. He said AR headsets are often used to train salespeople and can display dynamic graphs, data, images, and even short videos around the speaker.
Doctor and nurse training also uses VR headsets to simulate being in a medical procedure room, filmed in advance of the meeting, using at least six cameras from different angles. , Mix said, creating a fully immersive experience in a VR headset.. Additionally, these headsets can be shipped to non-participants along with instructions for use and technical support contacts, allowing more healthcare workers to get the same training experience.
Are real virtual meetings just around the corner?
Another technological development that is part of the “spatial computing” movement and is rapidly advancing with artificial intelligence is Project Starline, an immersive three-dimensional virtual meeting product being developed by Google. (See image below.)
Google announced an early version of Project Starline in 2021, but said, “The prototype would take up an entire room and require complex hardware, including infrared emitters and special cameras, to create a live 3D model of the person you’re talking to.” clothing was needed,” the company said. With recent product updates on the website. “While the results were impressive, the size and complexity of the system made it difficult to implement in many offices today.”
For its latest prototype, released about six months ago, Google says it has “developed new AI technology that produces higher quality, more lifelike 3D images that require only a few standard cameras. The current prototype resembles a more traditional video conferencing system, ranging from the size of a restaurant booth to a flat-screen TV, making it easier to deploy and more accessible,” the company says. says it still uses a light field display to create a true three-dimensional image on the user’s desk without the need for glasses.
Google’s qualitative study of prototype users found that the technology made participants more active and less fatigued during meetings. Participants also reported a significantly better ability to perceive and communicate nonverbal cues than with traditional video conferencing.
Google has not announced a release date for Project Starline. Perhaps Mobile World Congress 2025 will be an opportunity to debut the finished product?