Being aware of trends in consumer technology can lead to opportunities in the professional market, writes Bob Snyder

Many would argue that, today, it is consumer technology that drives innovation. Instead of the R&D departments of giant corporations designing photocopiers or fax machines for large corporate use, innovators race to create the next iPod, iPhone or iPad. Gigantic consumer markets, like the sun in any solar system, pull research money into their orbits and hold them there by sheer gravity.

This benefits us in pro AV when consumer interest accelerates and the demand for critical technology and its components become mass market. Suddenly the price of our corporate technology can drop rapidly as manufacturing ramps up and more competitors jump in chasing the consumer market growth.

Our typical reaction might be to avoid consumer technology that represents weaker products, more diluted technology and less durable goods. Yet by watching closely these consumer trends, one can anticipate opportunities in pro AV.

The traditional disdain is an anachronism. No one is suggesting that we will share specific product offerings... we truly have more robust needs. However, we will benefit from the development and the reduction in costs of key parts and components (for example, consumers buy millions of a product with a new chip, reducing its ongoing manufacturing cost; we can then incorporate that same chip into a different kind of kit for pro use).

Sharing software

The advent of digital technologies means tech advances can more easily port over from consumer to pro, especially in the area of software – and it’s software that the AV industry understands least.

Maybe you saw Microsoft’s Kinect during the Christmas period? An add-on to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gaming console, it uses a digital camera and sensors to recognise people, gestures and voice commands. Players can control the console by waving their hand and make their on-screen avatars run, jump, swing and dance by moving their own bodies.

On route to 5 million in unit sales, Kinect is on a highway to a tremendous success – a road paved in advance by Nintendo’s Wii and Sony PlayStation 3’s Move & Eye motion control systems.