As Awe Creative settles back in to life after another hectic week in Amsterdam, we take a look at the topics that were trending on the showfloor and consider what we learnt from this year’s IBC Show.
Interest remains high in IP.
As we were working on the IBC Daily in the office next to the IP Showcase it was impossible not to see the huge amount of interest in the idea of real-time IP for production, playout and contribution. Many presentations were standing room only, there was a constant stream of people heading into the room and conversations about the potential of IP in this area were wholly positive.
Rise of the robots
Sophia, the ‘humanlike’ robot was all over the RAI – on the front cover of the Daily, on the big screens and on IBC365. The keynote presentation was certainly a talking point and the potential for this technology in areas such as medicine and teaching is clear, however creator David Hanson’s aim to develop super intelligent robots equipped with AI software was met with wariness in some quarters. As The IBC Daily asked on Day 5 – AI robots – a benefit or a hazard? Only time will tell on that one,
VR/AR/MR everywhere
Multiple sessions covered these topics – where we are now, where we’re going and whether consumers actually want access any or all of these. All three technologies could impact the industry in different ways and any investment in the technology must be considered long-term, but with the potential for monetisation and some big names such as Google and Apple already planning to integrate AR into upcoming devices, expect to see a lot more movement in this area.
The future is 5G
While we may see a few more iterations of 4G, 5G is undoubtedly the future and it’s something consumers are increasingly going to demand. As video viewing on mobile devices continues to rise and as people increasingly expect to be able to access high-quality content from any device at any time, 5G will become a must with its promise of lower latency and more reliable connectivity. If viewers are confident they will be able to watch content on the move without experiencing buffering or connection issues more even more videos will be viewed, creating huge opportunities for content providers. However it’ll be a few more years until the economics of 5K make sense.
Facing fake news
This is another topic that came up in multiple sessions and generated some heated debate, particularly around the role of social media channels and what their role should be in stopping fake news being published on their sites. The difficulty for professional journalists in combating this with quality news, and the associated costs in hiring properly qualified teams to do this, was also covered. Regulation may be the way forward but with some countries apparently producing state sponsored fake news, this is an issue that doesn’t appear to be easy to solve.
