TIDE Conference 2018: Emphasising experience Features 15/03/2018 The TIDE conference made its way to Amsterdam, the Netherlands for ISE. Hurrairah bin Sohail discusses the ‘design thinking’ focus of the event.Last year, InfoComm International rebranded itself as AVIXA (Audiovisual and Integrated Experience Association). The move was not just a name change and a new logo. There was a shift in how the association viewed itself and what role it sought to serve. As technology and our relationship with it evolves, AVIXA realised that the professional AV industry needs to evolve with it. The TIDE (Technology. Innovation. Design. Experience) conference is one of AVIXA’s ï¬ rst steps to fulï¬ l its reimagined role and purpose. Introduced at InfoComm US in 2017, TIDE made its way to Amsterdam and ISE this year. It was held on February 5, 2018 at the Hotel Okura. The event was held in conjunction with TIDE global partners Biamp, Samsung and Nureva. The focus of the TIDE conference was the concept of “design thinking” and how it can be applied to business and technology. The conference featured a range of speakers detailing how they employ design thinking in their professional lives. The main thrust of the talks was the fact that traditional problem solving and design methodologies are no longer sufï¬ cient to meet the needs of clients. This necessitates a shift in how technology needs to be conceived, developed and deployed. Daan Roosegaarde started proceedings with his talk about the landscapes of the future. As an artist and designer who employs technology in his pieces, he stated that the relationship between the new generation of consumers and the technology they consume has changed. Not only do they expect their products to function as advertised, they also want the technology to have a positive social impact. According to Roosegaarde, technology must be harnessed for the good of society. Roosegaarde highlighted his current efforts at urban smog reduction. His “smoke-stacks” pull pollutants from the air and are currently being trialled in various cities across the globe. To further showcase how he employs design thinking for the purpose of positive social impact, the carbon pollutants from the smoke- stack are compressed into diamonds. These are sold to raise awareness regarding the level of pollution in urban areas and to fund the project. Roosegaarde urged attendees to incorporate social impact into their thinking and to “use waste to fuel your projects”. The TIDE conference did not just focus on higher level considerations required for design thinking to be implemented. It also delved into how incorporating design thinking as part of product development and delivery can positively impact the professional AV industry. Sabine de Schutter, a lighting designer and interior architect, took the stage to talk about how in her experience ‘lighting’ has not changed for decades. She detailed how her approach to any project begins with the question “where is the user in this application”. According to de Schutter, common lighting practises completely neglect the very people the lighting is intended for. To overcome this problem, de Schutter suggested employing prototyping, another tenet of design thinking. By testing out new solutions in practice rather than in concept, you can glean greater insight that does not neglect the importance of human experience. AVIXA’s aim is still to be the association that represents the AV industry. What the name change does is highlight the increasing importance of ‘integrated experiences’. AV systems are no longer being deployed as islands. They need to be able to interface with IT systems and facilities management tools. They also need to be able to serve the needs of new clients, which go beyond the simple aspects of functionality. The TIDE conference highlighted that if the AV industry is to continue to grow and develop it needs to incorporate feedback from diverse ï¬ elds. There is no better way to start this journey than with dialogue and discourse.