as schools and universities across APAC start to welcome students back to campus in some capacity, technical staff are busy readying the spaces to greet them. AV system upgrades that support hybrid in-person and distance learning models are top of mind, with technology from AJA Video Systems often a key consideration.
Robert Stacy, general manager for Asia Pacific, AJA Video Systems, shares, “As most AJA solutions can be connected to a network, they can be configured, controlled and monitored remotely via their web UIs. For example, the AJA HELO web interface allows users to quickly and easily set up a streaming and recording schedule remotely. It includes a preview window for the stream so that users can see it actually working, plus many other features. Larger multi-channel products like AJA’s BRIDGE LIVE streaming gateway can be controlled fully from across the world. AJA solutions also support REST APIs, so integrators and developers can create control systems for them.”
He continues, “From a more sophisticated system management point of view, AJA is also an openGear.tv partner. openGear is a frame-based system that allows users to mix and match a variety of cards from different vendors within one rack. These cards are compatible with DashBoard management control software, which provides further insight into the system status and can make the lives of university technical staff a lot easier when it comes to system health checks.”
AJA technology also excels in helping universities to create¬ ‘mixed’ spaces powered by AV pipelines that cater to both in-person and remote students. Stacy explains, “AJA products are designed to be portable and can support a range of needs across an educational institution. The HELO and U-TAP, for instance, can be used to implement simple camera-to-streaming setups, and give the classroom the ability to change its function, but they can also be used as supplemental resources that can be brought into spaces outside the classroom for a more ‘hybrid’ or ‘mixed’ approach.”
Stacy believes that AJA can also help elevate education spaces. Offering an example, he explains, “AJA products have been deployed at the FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Northwestern Switzerland. The university is using AJA U-TAPs and HELOs for streaming and recording content. As the institution must deliver streams in multiple languages, it also recently overhauled its AV infrastructure with BRIDGE LIVE, which helps in delivering four active channels of programming in four different languages to audiences around the world, in addition to serving a range of other applications.”
In Stacy’s opinion, the future for education is bright with continued advances in AV technology like BRIDGE LIVE. He concludes, “Across primary and higher education, AV is being reimagined, especially with an expanded addressable market of students, some of whom prefer to stay remote. We’ve seen the benefits of AV technology and its implementation over the course of the pandemic and more universities are re-examining AV workflows with an eye to the future. The distance learning experience once created out of necessity and with expediency is here to stay, and now is the time to evaluate what’s working and what’s not, streamline it and improve it. There is so much more for schools and universities to explore beyond pointing a camera at the teachers and streaming, and AJA has the products, solutions and expertise to help universities on this journey."