Display Technology

How will immersive experiences change as we come out of COVID?

As the world slowly emerges from the pandemic, and workplaces return to face-to-face interaction, how will technology adapt to the next wave of immersive experiences? John Steinhauer, VP of entertainment for the Americas at Barco, a company specializing in collaboration and visualization, recently shared his thoughts with Digital Signage Today.

Photo: iStock

October 15, 2021 by Kevin Damask — Editor, Digital Signage Today

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have relied heavily on virtual meeting technology to relay key information without the need for in-person meetings.

As the world slowly emerges from the pandemic, and workplaces return to face-to-face interaction, how will technology adapt to the next wave of immersive experiences? How will engagement software adapt as more businesses move to hybrid meeting spaces?

While places such as hotel lobbies have used large LED displays for years, they're also becoming more prominent in boardrooms and large meeting areas. Whether the screens are displaying vital meeting and employee information or news about fun events or employee milestones, large displays in the workforce are likely here to stay.

John Steinhauer, VP of entertainment for the Americas at Barco, a company specializing in collaboration and visualization, recently shared his thoughts with Digital Signage Today on trends in how organizations can blend the advantages of displays and expansive interaction with the personal feeling employees value through one-on-one interaction despite it coming through a screen. Steinhauer specializes in live events, such as concerts and sporting events.

Q: What do you think is driving the push for companies to install larger video screens in meeting rooms?

A: As employees finally return to the office after pandemic restrictions, some haven't been in the office for so long that they're re-entering the corporate world with different expectations. Others have remained in offices running a skeleton staff and are glad to have more people around them. Others still are remaining at home for the foreseeable future, or permanently. As the workplace and office space continues to evolve, employees are seeing their companies with fresh eyes.

You only get one chance to make a first impression. Yet, post-pandemic, employers have been gifted a second chance. It's crucial that returning employees like what they see and being able to "enjoy the office" will make or break the employee experience. "Enjoying the office" includes creating physical and virtual spaces that are equitable, engaging, easy-to-use, and collaborative, all of which can be more clearly realized by integrating immersive display technology in shared physical spaces like meeting rooms.

Curating an employee experience includes looks and aesthetics of the office but is also about communication and added value. Take large video walls as an example. Larger video walls in the workplace create optimal environments for hybrid working, such as allowing employees to better read body language, feeling more connected and naturally engaged in a meeting. Additionally, a large video wall brings greater and more accurate visualization, making it easier for employees to collaborate as a laptop and large video wall together can enable easier access to on-demand data and information necessary for productive meetings.

With this in mind, as many workforces may be increasingly hybrid, flexible or dispersed in the future, a purpose-built office space with the right tools, capabilities, and infrastructure, including display technology, can have a tangible impact on employees' ability to do work, from anywhere.

Q: Even with large, high-tech screens and advances in virtual meeting software, some employees still feel distance meeting through the internet. How can LED screen manufacturers and marketers help make the virtual meeting experience more intimate?

A: With the pandemic acting as a catalyst, it comes as no surprise that many organizations embraced digital and flexible environments that sought to create a real-life alternative to standard "in-office" time. However, if digital replacement was the immediate solution right after the pandemic outbreak, it's now time to think and act on true digital transformation and that means creating a truly engaging employee experience for every employee going forward. This experience will need to continue to champion flexibility with adapted programs based on needs, possibilities, and participants.

Think of this on a small scale. Having a larger monitor at your chosen workspace, either in-office or at-home, can enhance your work experience giving you more virtual "space" to do and see your work and colleagues. This same enhanced experience can be felt with the integration of large video walls in the office, particularly when LED. Larger and clearer video walls create optimal environments for hybrid working as they provide employees increased opportunity to read body language as well as accurately view relevant information for a project. Both lead to employees feeling naturally more engaged in a meeting. This natural engagement then breeds more collaboration in the hybrid working environment, which is something we have continually heard organizations trying to replicate in the digital space over the last 18 months. Overall, large LED video walls can elevate the employee experience, ultimately making virtual or hybrid interactions more intimate.

Q: Are large displays becoming more affordable so more businesses can use them for meetings?

A: Pricing evolves and becomes more affordable over time matching the constant evolution of the technology. In other words, large displays are becoming more affordable, as expected from any technology product. However, coupled with that is the continued innovation of technology and service, bringing a choice of features and functionalities. Established technology will reduce price over time, whereas new innovative technology will likely command a premium price, especially when first introduced. This constant tug plays out in the market making new technology inexpensive, but new innovation on top of that technology worth paying more for.

Q: With virtual meetings becoming more popular, especially since the start of the pandemic, do you see more companies shifting to remote work, if possible?

A: While we all try to envision what the next five or even ten years will look like for the workplace, it is important to recognize that the past 18 months has shown us that remote work will have a firm place in the future of work. While some employees will return to work, or already have, others will never return to the office from 9-to-5, five days per week. I believe the future will be a hybrid work schedule where employees work some time both in an office and in a remote location – which doesn't necessarily have to be at home – in a way that fits their schedule.

By nature, this hybrid work model will require some additional shifting in how we perceive the office and remote work. Even with a hybrid model, I anticipate more businesses will keep their physical office space that we think, however, that space will transform into a place reserved for intentional collaboration. When people go into the office, they will do so to have face-to-face conversations and hold intentional meetings and gatherings in dedicated spaces, and not to sit at a cube and do the same work they could complete at home.

Q: What do you think some of the future trends will be in large screens, especially for office use?

A: Everything is about the experience and will continue to be as such. Stepping outside the experience of the meeting room, we've already begun to see more integration of display technology in corporate lobbies, boardrooms, auditoriums, fusion centers, and experience centers, and we anticipate this trend to continue growing rapidly.

As the continued focus will be on curating an engaging, "wow factor" filled employee experience, video walls, projectors and much more display technology will go up. Display technology will be an enabler for the next generation of office experiences doing everything from exciting employees in a corporate lobby to ensuring employees remain informed without cluttering their desktops with data and information. As return to work continues for those who choose to return to the office, this is a chance for employers to remind employees how simple, engaging and enthusing (and high-tech) corporate environments can be.

About Kevin Damask

---