At the beginning of 2020, companies and organizers began planning their in-person experiences with virtual attendance as a secondary consideration, if at all. However, travel restrictions and social distancing requirements drastically changed the planning and execution of immersive and collaborative experiences for 2020 and beyond.

Companies, producers, and meeting planners are now re-imagining the future of events, both in-person and virtual. Here are five things to know about the future of immersive and collaborative experiences.

1. Attending Virtual Experiences Remotely Will Become an Expectation

The rise of online experiences has arrived sooner than expected. While the shift initially resulted from social distancing requirements, many organizations quickly saw other benefits from the virtual experience format: increased access to experts, more attendees (due to greater accessibility), and lower costs.

Due to the success of these events in the past few months — and many people being concerned about the safety of attending crowded events — attendees, presenters, and even entertainers will expect an online option for events in the future.

Organizers should design all in-person events with an online option built-in, to meet this expectation. Additionally, this preparation will allow organizers the ability to quickly move the entire experience online if public safety conditions deem it necessary. Even events previously considered in-person only, such as museum exhibits and exhibitions, should include online attendance in their plans.

By building all components of immersive experiences using the best technology choice for the event, organizers can more seamlessly manage all aspects of the experience. To reduce the stress of setting up an event, organizers should look for technology with easy set-up procedures, such as the Panasonic Smart Projector Control application which allows users to manage and streamline basic setups from a smartphone. 

2. Attendees Must “Feel” Like Part of the Action

As home audio-visual equipment increases in quality and people’s exposure to high-quality immersive experiences increase, audiences’ expectations of quality continue to rise. Producers must choose projectors that provide quality experiences that make people attending live feel like participants rather than observers, as well as bringing those online into the event.

High-quality immersive experiences include both laser projectors and professional displays. Look for projectors that deliver bright, vivid colors and excellent white-balance accuracy. Consider the image reproduction quality and look for projectors that provide realistic, clear, crisp, high-quality color-rich images like Panasonic's PT-RQ35K projector series, which is designed to deliver stunning, eye-catching visuals with 30,000lm of high brightness and 4K resolution.

By using a professional display screen, attendees are surrounded by special effects and video content. Because events often take place outdoors, screens should have sharp, clear, easy-to-read 4K visuals.

3. Affordable Options for Producing High Quality and Immersive Virtual Experiences Exist

Organizers often assume that immersive experiences are only available for events with large budgets — but that’s not today’s reality. Today, producers must meet higher expectations with smaller budgets and crews, and events and experiences of all sizes and budgets now have access to production quality previously out of reach. Many laser projectors, video production systems, and professional displays allow easy set-up that does not require special expertise or require organizers to hire specialists and additional producers.

4. Attendees Expect Interactivity and Collaboration

While experiences often bring large events to mind, smaller-scale meetings and even remote learning for college classes offer the opportunity to create experiences. By selecting technology with these capabilities, organizers can focus on engaging attendees through content instead of managing technical functionality.

With a laser projector that allows switching between display and whiteboard mode, educational institutions and training sessions provide a level of collaboration not previously possible. Businesses should consider laser projectors that are compatible with technology such as Cisco Webex Room Kits for even great integration and features.

Other technology to consider includes presentation systems, which help improve efficiency and provide seamless sharing options. With a plug-and-play system, organizers do not need to set up cables or install software or drivers. Because many experiences include more than one presenter, look for presentation systems that handle multiple presenters and easily manage unique presentation content.

5. Technical Disruptions Must Become a Thing of the Past

With immersive and collaborative virtual experiences becoming the norm, attendees’ tolerance for technical issues will become drastically reduced — especially for remote streaming content. Systems requiring dedicated hardware often experience issues with streaming, which is critical for creating successful experiences.

Organizations are increasingly turning to IT/IP video processing platforms, which require no dedicated hardware, to improve both the audience and production experience. Look for a system that combines remote robotic cameras and studio-quality devices. Consider a system like KAIROS which has a native-IP and open architecture to provide a resolution- and formation-independent production.

The Panasonic Innovations in AV Technology webinar showcases expert predictions for the future of live events. As immersive experiences become the norm, organizations and producers must continually revamp their offers to create events that exceed expectations. By continually learning about trends and expectations, companies can lead their industry instead of constantly playing catch-up.

Register for the free webinar here, and gain the knowledge you need to select the technology that enables you to deliver the collaborative and immersive experiences your audience expects.