Event Technology We're Excited About This Month
To create immersive, interactive holograms—no headset required
Light Field Lab, the developers of the SolidLight holographic display platform, recently raised a $50 million Series B led by global game developer NCSOFT—and with it, unveiled Defy experiences, which allow you to speak and interact with SolidLight holograms. Recently recognized as one of TIME’s Best Inventions, SolidLight is reportedly the highest-resolution holographic display platform ever designed, enabling real digital objects to form in mid-air without headgear. The hardware features self-emissive, bezel-less panels that assemble into modular holographic video walls. The first Defy experience is called Space and Time; watch a video here.
“Light Field Lab is building the future of immersive experiences, and we are pleased to support the team in bringing true holograms to life,” said Dr. Songyee Yoon, chief strategy officer of NCSOFT, in a press release. “Being able to see, deliver, and interact with 3D content without any assistive peripheral devices will substantially advance the consumer adoption of SolidLight, not just in the entertainment space, but also the way in which we interact and collaborate through remote technologies.”
To generate polished, customizable email campaigns—in minutes
Virtual event platform vFairs is leaning into advancements in artificial intelligence with its new AI Assistant, an integration with ChatGPT that helps build email campaigns in just minutes. Customers provide information about the type of email they want to send out, and ChatGPT will generate a fully customized email for their event. Users can choose from a variety of prompts, such as event stages, type of emails, and the option to add in specific instructions, guidelines, and more; users can edit the result as needed before generating the campaign. vFairs has more AI integrations in the works, including social media tools, automated scriptwriting, speaker bios, landing page drafts, and more.
To facilitate chat-based networking
Utah-based events platform RainFocus has introduced a new chat feature for event attendees to connect and network before, during, and after an event. (The offering was announced at RainFocus’ annual INSIGHT conference, which took place last month.) When attendees register for an event, they’ll be encouraged to set up a profile with an image, interests, and contact information. They can then browse profiles of fellow attendees, using filter, bookmark, and connect options.
“Like the rest of the RainFocus platform, Attendee-to-Attendee Chat is highly configurable,” explained the RainFocus team in a blog post. “Participation can be required or optional, depending on the organization’s goals, and certain attendee segments can be included or excluded. Some organizations may welcome exhibitors, vendors, and/or booth staff in the chat pool. Others may consider members of these groups more likely to conduct sales-focused conversations that could bother other participants, and thus opt to limit chat sign-up to other attendee segments.”
To simplify the hotel RFP process
In more evidence of the impact AI is having on the industry, Cvent has announced an integration partnership with hivr.ai, a travel tech start-up that automates the meeting and group sales process of conference hotels. The new partnership vows to better automate the RFP process, enabling hotels to increase response rates and save time. How it works: hivr.ai customers can automate their response to meeting and group booking requests coming from Cvent; the artificial intelligence tool also synchronizes the data coming from Cvent with the hotel’s sales and catering systems, which avoids manual data entry and can reduce errors. The first global hotel chain leveraging the new offering is NH Hotel Group, which operates more than 350 hotels in 33 countries.
To host a networking event for financial professionals
Advisor Circle, a product studio for financial services—as well as the creator of Future Proof, the world’s largest wealth festival—announced the launch of its newest product, Breakthru, an event-tech meetings platform built exclusively for the financial services industry’s advice, wealth management, asset management, and fintech verticals. The new platform leverages actionable data to modernize the way advisors, investors, fund managers, and fintechs discover one another, meet, and do business. It will debut at the 2023 Future Proof Festival, taking place Sept. 10-13 in Huntington Beach, Calif.
The Latest Updates, Funding, and Merger News
Hubilo, a leading global event technology platform, has acquired fellow event tech company Fielddrive BVBA. The strategic partnership will give the brands access to greater resources, data, and market insight in order to deliver leading products and consumer experiences, plus attract top talent. Hubilo, which was founded five years ago, delivers virtual and hybrid event experiences in 185-plus countries and to more than 2 million eventgoers. Fielddrive, meanwhile, is a global on-site event technology company that supports organizers with sustainable solutions.
Virtual meeting platform Preciate has changed its name to Scoot, aiming to emphasize the importance of movement and energy in hosting successful meetings. The company also recently closed a $12 million Series A funding round. The funding, led by Woodland Capital with participation from existing investors, will be invested in product development and scalability to serve a growing set of global customers.
Global events leader Freeman has announced a strategic partnership with Sessionboard, a SaaS solution and speaker and content management system. The partnership will provide Freeman's customers with enhanced speaker and content management support. Sessionboard's services will be integrated with Freeman's existing event management solutions, including in presentation management, giving event organizers a seamless, end-to-end event approach to speaker management.
PPDS—the exclusive global provider of Philips digital signage, interactive displays, and more—has unveiled a series of "PPDS Studios" in Europe and North America, providing customers and partners with access to the company's full suite of products and solutions, for more inspired co-creation with partners and the opportunity for better-informed decisions for customers. The studios are now open in Charlotte, N.C., along with European cities like Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris, and Milan; more are slated to open in 2023 and beyond. The studios can also be rented as event spaces. —with additional reporting from Lara Schwartz, Sarah Kloepple, and Shannon Thaler
