The Consumer Electronics Show is on my bucket list. I have never been, and due to the cost of attending, I will likely never attend. If you have not, just for the fun of it, check hotel prices in Vegas during the show. If you are not local and from higher ed, chances are that, like me, you will never attend. However, it is also one of the shows that I think shows us where the technology is headed that we will soon have on our campuses. There are a few standout examples from this year’s show.
Perhaps one of the things that I enjoy most about supporting technology in higher education is the accessibility the technology provides to students. As AV and AI technology continues to advance, enhanced accessibility features are supplementing students’ engagement with educational material. In my opinion some of the most exciting innovations are real-time closed captioning and multilingual audio streams combined with wearable tech, in particular eye glasses.
Smart glasses were all over CES this year. One pair that seems to stand out is the Rokid. These glasses are similar to the Meta glasses that I have previously written about, except that they have a display embedded in them. This allows for real-time translation and captioning. Real-time closed captioning allows students with hearing impairments to follow along with lectures, discussions and videos. However, as many accessibility features do, its benefits extend beyond only the hearing impaired. Students learning in a non-native language, students in a noisy classroom, and those who prefer reading over listening will all benefit from this feature. The accuracy and speed of real-time captioning have improved significantly in recent years, thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Speech recognition software can now handle diverse accents, technical jargon and rapid speech, making it a viable tool for use in classrooms, lecture halls and online platforms. Although it was not announced at the CES show, I continue to think about where Apple may end up in this area. They have leaned heavy into health and well being tech over the past several years. Their AirPods have tools that allow them to be used as audio enhancers and have technology to enhance only the voice of the people they determine you are speaking with. Combine that technology with the glasses like the Rokid, and the possibilities for education and accessibility are incredible!
Since I have been working in higher ed, the biggest issue I have heard from faculty is about screen space. It is usually centered around the perennial problem of wanting a writing surface and wanting to be able to display digital content. We have been creative and come up with various band aids, but I don’t know of anyone who has “fixed” the problem, because we have not had the technology up to this point.
I think we are starting to see that change with OLED screens and their literal flexibility. At CES, Lenovo introduced the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 (they need to work on that name). The laptop has a 14-inch screen, that at the press of a button, rolls out to 16.7 inches. While there are many things I don’t really love about this laptop, I am very interested in the fact that it is real, we can put our hands on it. The design has moved off paper and into hardware. It gives us the opportunity to think about how such a device can and will change the designs of our spaces. The thing I like least about it is that the screen only extends vertically. So, when in the 16.7 size, you are getting a strange aspect ratio and my design mind struggles with that. Yet, I get very excited when I think about screens rolling up out of desks, so that they take up a minimal amount of space, yet give the audience a direct and clear view of the presentation. Combine this technology with AVoIP, and we may finally be close to solving the screen space issue in higher ed.
As I wrap up my thoughts on the technology showcased at CES, my focus is already shifting to ISE, which has now come and gone. While my colleagues were on the ground exploring the latest innovations, I kept a close eye on the press coverage to see how the trends from CES carried over. Now, as I work on my next piece, I’m diving into what stood out at ISE and what it means for the industry moving forward.
