2017 Tech Predictions: Dave Pedigo, CEDIA
As the vice president of emerging technologies for CEDIA, Dave Pedigo needs to keep abreast of the big changes facing our industry. Here, he looks at the big trends for 2017.
- Cybersecurity becomes a regulatory issue:
In early October, 2017 the United States felt the ramifications of years of unsecured or under-secured networks and their accompanying connected devices as a major Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack crippled internet connectivity for many hours. While this may seem like a mere inconvenience for most, it is being noticed at the highest levels as a national/international threat. These attacks at minimum deny millions in transactions and foments fears into potential consumers of IoT products. These DDos attacks were likely dry runs for much larger attacks, which will force the governmental intervention through regulation. These actions will likely take years to make improvements in security, but will affect manufacturers the most and the home technology professionals who have to manage the change in these devices. In the meantime, CEDIA is working with the CTA to identify the major threats posed and then develop best practices to reduce risk associated with connected devices. If you wish to volunteer, please contact Dave Pedigo ([email protected])
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- HDR/Wide Color Gamut becomes more mainstream
Over the last half decade, we have heard the promises of Ultra HD/4K (UHD) and its benefits over typical 1080P HD. UHD adoption has been slowed by a lack of content as studios hadn’t bought into the UHD hype; however, new formats in contrast ratio (HDR) and in the quality of colour (wide colour gamut) are ready to significantly improve television and movie watching. There is a format war happening over HDR (Dolby Vision vs. HDR10 vs Hybrid Log-Gamma) and there is still room for colour improvement so expect some consumer confusion. But, there will be plenty of HDR and WCG streaming boxes and gaming stations available in 2017.
- Voice control becomes congested
It is fair to say that Amazon caught the world by storm with their Amazon Echo in the fall of 2015. Since then, millions of units have sold and Amazon has developed multiple devices that are more affordable and portable. Amazon’s Echo has become the de facto Personal Voice Assistant (PVA) for smart home control and seems well positioned to continue their growth. However, with the release of Google Home and strong rumors of an Apple device in development, it seems the market will get crowded quickly manufacturers and HTPs must learn the pros and cons of each device.
- The rise of smart apps
Over the last decade, we have seen a movement towards the mobile device as the primary smart home interface. Most typical mobile users have dozens of apps on their phone requiring them to switch between apps for controlling each individual device, which can be a hassle.
New could-based products such as Stringify and IFTT are making advances that will enable apps to communicate back and forth which will ultimately simply the smart home user experience.
- Virtual reality/augmented reality become real sales tools
At CEDIA 2016 in Dallas, Texas, CEDIA volunteer Jonathan Law of REAL Audio Video, with the designs from CEDIA Chairman of the Board Dennis Erskine, showed a virtual reality home theatre design. The demo was universally hailed as revolutionary and is a terrific example of using cutting edge technology as a sales tool. With Oculus Rift and Vive commercially available for VR and Microsoft holo-lens and perhaps Magic Leap around the corner, showing homeowners virtual or augmented renders of their concept dream home or renovation will make sealing the deal much, much easier. Although, don’t get too excited yet, because it will take a lot of education and skill to learn how to design and render in VR and AR.
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