InfoComm is a gathering of some of the biggest names in the AV profession. At InfoComm 2024, Panasonic Connect showcased some of its newest technologies designed to benefit professionals and create immersive experiences for consumers. All the exciting new innovations featured in the exhibit shared one thing in common: a dedication to strong business collaboration.

Business collaboration allows Panasonic Connect to bring cutting-edge technology to consumers with maximum efficiency. From education to entertainment, we work with our partners to create immersive experiences that enhance people’s day-to-day lives.

Bringing Immersive Experiences to Classrooms and Boardrooms with Igloo Vision

Ask most people to think about how projectors are used in the workplace or the classroom and you’re likely to hear some uninspiring stories of PowerPoint presentations or still image slides in a high school science class. Igloo Vision aims to change that.

Igloo Vision uses projection technology to create immersive rooms that enliven workplaces and educational environments. Utilizing easily installed AV tech like Panasonic Connect’s PT-RQ7 Series 1-Chip DLP™ 4K Projectors and Media Production Suite software, Igloo Vision transforms traditional spaces into immersive environments that provide numerous practical applications.

Enhancing Learning Opportunities with Immersive Experiences

Keeping students engaged is a constant struggle for educational professionals. According to a 2022 report from the National Center on Education and the Economy, only one-third of US students report feeling engaged in school by 12th grade.

Igloo Vision CEO Kerry Head sees immersive spaces as a tool to fight against this trend, “you’ve got to engage children… Attention in immersive spaces is [about] 30% better than a traditional learning environment.”

Head’s optimism has been born out in practice. At Med Learning Group, healthcare professionals using Igloo's immersive technology for education saw positive results:

• 98% indicated the technology enhanced their learning experience.
• 90% indicated the technology would improve their recall of lessons.
• 81% of participants answered knowledge-based questions correctly after the activity, compared to only 62% before the activity.

Learning is successful when students are engaged and focused. Immersive experiences can help make sure they are.

Supercharging Business Collaboration with Co-workers and Clients

Igloo’s ability to transform business meetings to fully immersive meeting rooms allow for more collaborative and engaging experiences.  Head highlights, “Instead of being chained to your laptop, you can actually come into these meeting rooms… and you can really engage in what’s going on and what the purpose of your meeting actually is through this immersive visualization.”

SNC-Lavalin experienced the benefits of immersive meetings firsthand. The consultancy found that:

• Immersive experiences led to more engaging client presentations.
• VR meeting rooms allowed co-workers across the globe to attend meetings and engage fully with each other.
• Immersive environments brought plans out of the abstract, which made problems easier to spot so fixes could be implemented during the planning stage.

Transforming a Town into an Immersive Art Experience at LUMA Projection Arts Festival

Now in its tenth year, the LUMA Projection Arts Festival in Binghamton, NY is not your average art festival. According to co-founder Joshua Bernard, “LUMA is all about the intersection of art, technology, and storytelling.” A business collaboration between LUMA and Panasonic Connect achieves this by using projection mapping to transform a city into an immersive art experience.

Why projection mapping? Bernard explains that it’s “all about finding ways to connect with an audience because you really want to have an emotional impact. The technology should just work and be invisible and almost seem magical.”

Projection Mapping: No Easy Feat

Transforming a city into living art is no small feat. Some of the challenges faced include:

• Weather – LUMA is an outdoor festival, meaning conditions can change from day to day and even hour to hour throughout the event production. This creates a need for large-scale outdoor, weather resistant, inclement weather installations.
• Installation – The projectors used at LUMA need to be durable in all types of weather, but they also need to be easy to install and unobtrusive to festivalgoers. Projectors like Panasonic Connect’s PT-RQ22KU 3-Chip DLP™ 4K+ Large Venue Laser Projector and PT-RZ21KU 3-Chip DLP™ SOLID SHINE Laser Projector achieve both needs.

Bernard makes it clear why LUMA continues its business collaboration with Panasonic Connect. He says the technology “gets brighter, gets smaller, gets lighter, gets easier to deal with” and the better the tech, “the more magical the experience becomes.”

Working alongside partners like A3 Visual, Panasonic projection technology offers reliable, powerful solutions that give content creators and production teams great flexibility. Sean Mason, A3 Visual’s chief creative officer for the immersive division, puts it even more simply when he notes that the “combination of mixing mediums [video, audio, laser projection, moving lights] is really exciting. 

Achieving More Fun and Improved Gameplay with Full Swing 

Golf has always been a sport on the rise. As of 2022, one in seven Americans were playing. To take advantage of this popularity, it’s important to make golf accessible in new and exciting ways using cutting-edge collaboration software. Enter Full Swing.

Full Swing's golf simulators utilize Panasonic Connect PT-VMZ71 Series LCD projectors to create realistic gameplay through smooth, uninterruptedimages. The compact design also allows simulators to be used in both home and commercial environments.

The flexibility of Full Swing's simulators offers many benefits to golfers, such as:

• By moving the game indoors, golf outings are no longer weather-dependent. Golf can now be an all-season sport, regardless of where golfers live.
• Full Swing software gives golfers access to courses they would otherwise not be able to play. The AV tech allows golfers to experience historic venues from across the globe without leaving their hometowns.
• By pairing projection technology with KIT launch monitors, golfers experience realistic playing conditions based on the granular data of their specific swing. They can also use that data to analyze and improve their game while having fun.

As Immersive Experiences Expand, Panasonic Connect Stays on the Forefront with Robust Business Collaborations

In 2023, the immersive technology market reached $33.2 billion with the expectation that it will continue to grow. Immersive experiences can have a huge impact across virtually every industry. Panasonic Connect continues to bring this technology to consumers through strong business collaborations like those showcased at InfoComm 2024.