Thanks to a boom in artificial intelligence products, 2023 was a big year for innovations across the tech space—and the audio/visual sector was no exception.

As we look ahead into 2024, we can expect those innovations to expedite as AI technology continues advancing at an increasingly rapid pace. Meanwhile, improvements in both audio and visual software and hardware will help make this an exciting year for AV applications as a whole.

One Camera Isn’t Going to Be Enough

Now that the realities of video conferencing have proven to be more than just a passing WFH fad, we’re seeing a push for more effective recording tactics. To that end, multi-camera conferencing is emerging as a trailblazing trend in virtual communication, redefining the landscape of online meetings.

This technology not only elevates the visual quality of video meetings but also introduces a new level of dynamic engagement that a single laptop camera can’t touch. By deploying multiple cameras strategically, you can enhance the overall meeting experience, fostering improved communication, collaboration, and immersion. Beyond the pure visual benefits, there are also practical advantages of multi-camera conferencing, including the ability to capture diverse perspectives and seamlessly transition between speakers.

Throughout 2024, multi-camera conferencing will likely become an industry standard, as it offers a more natural, more flexible virtual meeting environment that more closely mirrors in-person conversations.

The More Immersive, the Better

Immersive environments are rapidly reshaping the landscape of professional audiovisual experiences and should play a pivotal role in enhancing engagement and connectivity for video communication. By leveraging new AV tech, businesses are increasingly able to create spaces that transcend traditional AV setups.

From virtual meetings to live events, organizations are increasingly looking to adopt advanced AV solutions that provide a more dynamic, responsive, and engaging atmosphere. Expect to see more integration of immersive tech like virtual, augmented, and mixed reality as the tech becomes more in-demand and easier to acquire.

More Interactive Hybrid Spaces

Making video spaces more immersive doesn’t just mean adding more cameras and shoe-horning VR into meetings—it also means we can expect the software we already use to deploy new solutions to meet interactivity needs.

Microsoft is looking to lead the way with Signature Microsoft Teams Rooms. Transforming traditional meeting spaces into dynamic hubs for enhanced communication, these signature rooms seamlessly integrate cutting-edge hardware and software, aligning with the intelligent features of Microsoft Teams to create a unified, streamlined, and intelligent meeting environment.

Rigorously designed with optimal meeting UX in mind, these room formats create truly immersive environments. Meant to be scalable and, per Microsoft, comparably priced to building out a traditional new conference room, this room format will no doubt start making its way into more and more offices and virtual meeting spaces.

More AI in Our Meeting Rooms

Ask anyone who’s suddenly started seeing an anonymous AI bot appear in their meetings knows, in 2023 we started seeing AI make its way into more and more meeting spaces with added native AI functionality in software like Zoom and Teams. We’ll certainly see more of the same in 2024 as AI tech becomes more robust and as users continue acclimating to its features.

AI will continue taking on low-level meeting-related tasks from humans, like editing recordings, transcribing and emailing meeting transcripts, helping cameras track speakers, generating subtitles, translating meetings into multiple languages, and generating questions and notes during meetings.

To that end, Microsoft recently announced Copilot Pro, a premium subscription to its AI tool that offers advanced features like enhanced image generation, the capability to build custom Copilot GPTs, priority access to new models, and access to Copilot across devices and Microsoft apps.

More Third-Party AI Tools

As the AI race continues to rage on, there’s no doubt we’ll also see exciting new players in the AI space. Already there are countless generative AI tools available for performing niche tasks like taking notes, writing content, and generating images and videos.

In the meeting space more specifically, we’ll also see even more integrate-able third-party tools that can supercharge meeting productivity. Meeting assistant AI functionality is already built into the biggest conferencing apps, but more robust assistant tools like WINN and Versational are also vying for integration with richer features for translation, in-meeting collaboration, and post-meeting analysis that can actually break down the performance of meeting participants based on predetermined KPIs—particularly useful for sales teams. We’ll also see more third-party AI training apps like SecondNature that can simulate meeting experiences with a human-like AI bot.

More Speakers, Better Audio

As we continue to enhance in-office video conferencing solutions, distributed audio will be incorporated more and more to provide both ambiance and privacy. As such, there could be a higher demand for mounted speakers for spaces where teleconferencing environments are being improved.

We should also see a lean toward speakers designed for sound isolation as offices and campuses look to prevent sound bleed-through walls. Budget-conscious speaker options are also going to be increasingly important as organizations at every budget level look to enhance their AV setups to retain teams and project professionalism in external meetings.

2024 AV in Summary

As video comm becomes more and more the norm in offices, classrooms, living rooms, and event spaces, there’s a growing demand for interactive and visually captivating environments that cater to users’ evolving expectations—along with AI tools to help out.

Overall, we can expect a continued surge in the adoption of immersive technologies that develop captivating, interactive environments that redefine how people connect and experience audiovisual content.

Even for those who are fully back in the office (or even mostly back in the office), we’ve turned a corner we can’t un-turn, so to speak, and our employees and event-goers simply expect more from AV connectivity and remote content. Immersive environments and AI automation will become the standard, pushing the boundaries of traditional audiovisual expectations.