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by Ken Dec, EVP of Marketing & Client Strategies and Aaron Martinez, Senior Designer<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n Still the buzz of the show, we saw more\u00a0and more interesting, real-world applications of these technologies than in any previous year.<\/p>\n Augmented Reality (AR)<\/em> <\/strong>\u2013 Given the sheer number of mobile phones in existance,\u00a0 it’s no wonder AR interest is high. The ability to add a digital overlay to a live environment through mobile-enabled apps indicates that AR may yet turn out to be the most utilized of the “Reality-based” concepts.\u00a0<\/p>\n Virtual Reality (VR)<\/em> <\/strong>\u2013 the ability to \u2018transport\u2019 users to entirely different environments remains the most powerful VR application type \u2013 and with the technology getting easier to use as a result of consumer-driven innovations, costs are going down, attendees are more comfortable using the tools and increasingly have higher expectations in this area.<\/p>\n Some interesting show buzz is the idea that AR and MR will surpass the headset-based VR approach to enhance\u00a0live experiences sooner than later.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Mixed Reality (MR)<\/em><\/strong> – While virtual reality (VR) creates entirely computer-generated environments and augmented reality (AR) overlays computer-generated imagery onto the real world, mixed reality (MR), seeks to blend the physical and digital worlds together<\/em><\/strong>. You can imagine how powerful this idea could become.\u00a0<\/p>\n Real-world applications in the event space are just beginning, but we see their use ramping up significantly in 2018.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve earned a bad reputation in the social\/political realm, but these are incredibly powerful tools that can exponentially improve the exhibitor experience by providing consistent, accurate answers to the more common questions they need answers to. More importantly, it can enable general service contractors to free up their human staff to be more focused on higher, value-added service activities \u2013 enabling them to provide a truly concierge-level of service to exhibitors.<\/p>\n We saw powerful demonstrations of using AI-generated data to optimize everything from floorplan to registration design \u2013 even enabling on-the-fly experience optimization by utilizing data to move experience locations around overnight to optimize the experience.<\/em><\/p>\n These technologies have been in the experimental stage for years. No longer. These innovative technologies are now proven in the event field and capable of significantly improving the attendee, exhibitor and sponsor experience.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/c1mdevsite.com\/theexpogroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/3f15da40-7301-445b-97e5-e17367e5705d.jpg\")
The biggest takeaway from this year\u2019s gathering of event technology providers at the 7th annual Event Tech\u00a0is just how “ready-to-go”\u00a0many of the technology tools we\u2019ve been talking about are now actively being used to improve live, face-to-face experiences and their management.\u00a0 Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Bots and more are no longer just ideas we can\/should imagine using \u2013 many companies already are implementing these technologies in powerful ways.<\/p>\nThe 3Rs \u2013 AR\/VR\/MR<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Bots are back<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has arrived<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Not bolt-ons\u00a0but must-haves<\/strong><\/h3>\n