Making AV Fun Again: Moving Beyond the Basics
If you search “Standards for AV Technology” online, you’ll find hundreds of articles (including a few of ours) explaining the technical side of the industry. These guides will teach you how to calculate viewing distances, determine projector brightness, or decide when to use AVoIP versus traditional matrix switching. You can easily jump into a Reddit thread to find the “best” K-12 classroom system.
But here is the great thing about AV compared to other low-voltage systems like fire alarms or security: while there are essential standards and best practices to follow, there is also massive potential to make it flashy, exciting, and fundamentally fun.
Are You Missing a Massive Opportunity?
Consider this scenario: You have a large mixed-use facility encompassing office space, conferencing, and warehousing. At the center is a shared lobby where staff arrive every morning, vendors and customers cycle through, and visitors wait for meetings.
Chances are, you’ve invested significant time and energy working with an architect or MEP to perfect the lighting conditions. You’ve reviewed color studies for the walls and agonized over tile and carpet samples for weeks. Then, at the very tail-end of the project, you slap a standard 75” display on the wall for digital signage.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with a 75” commercial display. Staff and visitors will see it just fine. It will easily connect to your networked signage player, last five to seven years, and then get replaced with a newer model. It does its job.
But does it really?
What is the actual goal of your lobby signage? Is it simply to give visitors something to stare at while they wait? Or could it be an incredible opportunity for branding, emergency notifications, and generating revenue by serving as a high-impact focal point for visiting clients?
Enter the Experience: Designing for Impact
This is where the fun begins. Instead of a standard TV, imagine a larger direct-view LED (dVLED) wall. It instantly commands a visitor’s attention, offering a massive canvas for specialized content and unique layouts.
You don’t have to stick to a standard 16:9 rectangle, either. A creative design might utilize tiled LEDs in unconventional shapes, with custom content seamlessly stretching across the array. Add synchronized ambient lighting, projection mapping onto the front of the check-in desk, and interactive wayfinding elements, and suddenly, a simple lobby visit transforms into an exciting, informative, and fully immersive experience.
From Passive Viewing to Active Collaboration
A lobby isn’t the only space calling out for creativity. Let’s look at a learning stair. In my experience, these gathering spaces typically feature one or two video input plates, a high-powered projector, and a motorized screen. Despite being a hub for students, they offer very little in terms of real collaboration and interactivity.
Now, imagine a learning stair where students can wirelessly project their work right from their seats, utilizing side-by-side and quad views to share and compare ideas simultaneously. Picture an instructor walking to the front of the room and simply raising their left hand to automatically wake the system—engaging the remote-learning cameras, lowering the screen, firing up the projector, and dimming the lights to a perfect “presentation” mode.
Take it a step further: immersive surround sound fills the space while a food-grade scent machine softly diffuses lavender to encourage relaxation in the middle of a hectic day. That isn’t just AV; that is an environment.
Ready to Make Your Space Unforgettable?
AV is important. Audio and video technology plays a crucial role in your ability to share your story, send your message, and teach your lesson. However, beyond the rigid standards and technical requirements, AV is a playground.
At Axent Solutions, we like to have fun with technology. We are passionate about helping you design spaces that extend beyond the minimum requirements to create something truly unforgettable.
Have a project you’re interested in discussing? Don’t hesitate to reach out. Let us help make your space more exciting, inviting, functional, and immersive!