I had the pleasure of attending the 2019 CEDIA Expo in Denver a few weeks back. As a high-end home entertainment technology conference and trade show, CEDIA offers amazing products and ideas for those who command, and can afford, the best in video quality, audio fidelity, and convenience. This is not for the ‘Costco 60″ 4k display for the man-cave’ crowd, but for the $300k budget dedicated media room, complete with 12 leather theater-style chair and 120″ UHD projector set. In the 20 or so years since I first attended, CEDIA has ranged from leading the industry in technology adoption (in areas like multichannel audio and 4k video) to playing catch up vs. the mass market who offered consumers both more functionality and value (think Sonos, Nest, Alexa and the like). Recent years have seen much of the latter, but I am happy to report that 2019’s return to Denver from has brought a return to the true vision on what the smart home can be.
The show felt smaller than last year’s event in San Diego, but I was really impressed with several technologies and demonstrations that I witnessed during my visit that have a good chance of success in the near, medium, and longer term. Here’s a quick rundown of three such innovations that stuck out to me.
- Josh.ai. Most of us are aware of the benefits of using voice assistants like “Hey Google” and Amazon’s “Alexa” to both get information and to control other devices in the smart home. Throughout this year we have also been made aware of the privacy and security concerns surrounding the use of these products. Josh.ai offers an alternative: their platform specifically targets 3 distinct differentiators over existing voice UI solutions. First, they offer NLP (Natural Language Processing) technology that lets you speak to your home naturally, like you would a family member or friend. Second, they are focused on offering embedded software that can be integrated into any device, which will eliminate overlapping smart systems and the need to remember multiple wake words for different devices. To prove this point, the Josh.ai demo was shown at 12 different product booths throughout the CEDIA show floor. Finally, and to me most importantly, they are committed to never use the voice data for marketing purposes or to sell it to third party advertisers. Josh.ai has been around since 2015 but appears to be just now hitting its stride. Let’s hope they can continue to execute on their vision of delivering a great product as a standalone company, lest they be acquired and integrated by someone with less of a commitment to privacy.
- Red Carpet Home Cinema. For the past few years the CEDIA team has had a dedicated Innovation Alley section on the expo floor dedicated to up-and-coming companies with compelling technologies and solutions for the CEDIA crowd. (In fact, the previously mentioned Josh.ai has been a prior exhibitor in the Alley). This year there were 19 participants with technologies ranging from universal remote controls to custom lighting to in-wall speakers, to intelligent networking and more. The winner here for me was Red Carpet – simply put, they offer a service to provide direct-to-home, day-and-date release of 1st run movies. Once the stuff of world leaders and the rich and famous who cannot just go to the movies like you and me, Red Carpet allows customers the chance to see a wide variety of first run movies as they become available in the comfort and convenience of your own home by using a professionally installed in-home media server and a good internet connection. With Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Warner and other studios already supporting the service, we can hope that Red Carpet paves the way for more of us to avoid the theater crowds without having to wait months to see the best of Hollywood on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
- Biophilia – most of us failed to take mom’s advice to ‘go outside and get some fresh air’, but fortunately technology is trying to bring the outside to us. Despite the suspect name choice – a growing cadre of companies and focusing beyond simple wellness as part of the smart home to specifically recreate natural environments inside our four walls. One companies taking this challenge to task include Rayva who is offering turnkey home theaters with added circadian lighting configured to any time zone along with nature-centric audio and video capable of transporting the occupant to a forest, ocean or other peaceful place. Others jumping on the biophilia wagon include Epic Sky, Kohler, and Leon Speakers, each of which is working to convince one of your senses that the outside is now in-room. Delos has taken a first-mover position on being the integrator for a fully immersive biophilic (I know, it’s awkward to say) experience. Given the trend towards more urban lifestyles, I believe the biophilia category has potential long term – but I think we can all agree we need some better brand marketing to drive mass market adoption.
All in all, this year’s CEDIA gave me reason to appreciate what leading-edge companies are bringing in technologies for the smart home. As always, screens get ever bigger and speakers get ever more powerful, but there were other technology advances that have a real chance to make our homes into the castles we envision.
Until next time – comments solicited…