10 Presentation Trends for 2014

Forget flat projections and single screens, more and more presentations will project onto massive curved screens, the walls of an office, or even the facade of a building. The world becomes your presentation surface!

If you’ve gotten bored with traditional projections, mapping could be the next evolution in your career, combining motion graphics, 3D animation, live video, interactivity and big-time creativity.

(Video: Troya Castle Mapping Show)

Touchscreens and multi-touch interfaces using hands and fingers, have dominated how we think of interactivity. In 2014 this will change significantly. Expect to see a complex mix of multi-interaction modes that will immerse the user completely in the installation. Voice, gestures, iBeacons etc. will make human-computer interaction in presentations more intuitive, more intelligent and more magical than ever before.

The vision of so many futuristic movies, is now becoming real: the transparent glass screen. Whether projections or transparent LCDs, transparent displays allow users to see past the displayed text and graphics. Interactive curved glass, interfaces embedded into mirrors and windows, augmented reality installations – there is no limit to what this development can lead to. (Video: Corning ONE Wireless at the CTIA in Las Vegas)

What if you could address the individual needs of every visitor to a trade show, even when there is no staff available? Personalized presentations are the key. Via an RFID chip or the bar code that is on every exhibition badge or the iBeacon (Bluetooth 4) on their smartphone, a system can read out a person’s interests, their gender, the market they work in, the products they are looking for, and present them with information tailored to their profile. Personalization will also appear in in-store display advertising. Facial detection technology will trigger tailored display ads to people based on their gender and age. A woman walks by and sees a promotion that is different than when a man walks by.

Just kidding on this one. Although we all have been bored to tears by PowerPoint presentations, it will continue to uninspire.

What was just a buzzword in 2013 is now the standard: 4k displays and projectors offer crisper more compelling images. But creating pre-rendered content at 4K resolutions is problematic (e.g. storage, bandwidth, rendering time). Expect to see real-time rendering tools supplant pre-rendered content as much as possible to make 4k more time and cost effective. For everyone who cannot wait, we will be showing 4k multi-touch applications and 4k projections at ISE 2014.

Presentations displayed across curved screens will eclipse flat screen projections for both large and small events. Single or multi-projector setups will display HD and Ultra HD images that curve around the presenter offering a more immersive experience with better end-to-end visibility. The trick is to smoothly blend and warp edges to create a visually non distorted image.

With devices like Google Glass in the mainstream consciousness, augmented reality has shifted from being a curiosity to a legitimate new medium for advertising, marketing and presentations. It can be personal one-to-one or communal, many-to-many bringing ideas that were never imagined before into the space (Video: WWF – Coca-Cola Arctic Home Campaign – Augmented Reality | WWF)

RFID chips, accelerometers and Bluetooth 4 enable users to interact with a real world object and view projected virtual information.  For example, a user could pick up a Nike shoe, hold it up in the air and see information about that shoe appear on a screen in front of them, with the information changing depending on what part of the shoe is facing them.

A big revolution happening in presentations is the audience interacting in real-time with the presentation and presenter. A trend that gained significant traction last year was tweets, messages and other social media integrated into presentations in real-time. Another approach is for the audience as a community to become an active part of the installation. (Video: Contrex strip Commercial)

Are there any presentation trends you see that we missed? Let us know. Contact us via Facebook page or Twitter or email.