The show floor at ExhibitorLive 2017 was buzzing with technologies that wowed even this hard to impress consumer of technology. Holding my attention for more than 10 seconds is a tough sell unless you deliver an experience I can’t resist. Here are my top picks from the show floor this year.
Virtual Showrooms
Why:
Virtual showrooms are an excellent way for manufacturers of large products, think industrial manufacturing equipment, to compete on a show floor without having the expense and risk involved 
with bringing the actual product to the show. It allows a prospective client to be in a space with the product, engage with it and hopefully experience that visceral desire for the product that is so necessary to close a sale. Virtual showrooms would also work for manufacturers who offer a large, too large, variety of products to display in a traditional setting, e.g., textiles.
Who:
Impact Creative offers a sophisticated virtual reality (VR) showroom where a prospective client can demo a product and can even engage with a virtual representation of an actual salesperson who might be at a remote location – a virtual meeting. The exchange of information is in real time, and the experience is intense, creating that visceral experience that so often leads to closing a deal.
enVu offers Envision, an interactive virtual showroom that doesn’t require a VR headset and therefore doesn’t require the technical staff that a VR environment does. With Envision, the prospective client can guide him or herself through the room and through the products. It is similar to digital signage, but provides a deeper and richer experience.
Gamification
Why:
Games engage. It’s as simple as that. However gamification is not easy. Developing and deploying a game in temporary environments, like a trade show or at a conference, has been expensive and hard, until now.
Who:
GameBuzz, by StudioNorth.com, is a turnkey game solution for trade show and conference environments. It offers six games that run off a digital display. The games are designed to be facilitated by a host, like a game show; and of course that host, or “talent” is also available through GameBuzz. Or you can simply have your most charming and gregarious staff member run the show. As I walked the show floor at ExhibitorLive it was the GameBuzz booth that always had a crowd, because the game is fun to play and it’s fun to interact with other players.
Not Your Ordinary Video Wall
Why:
Video walls are a staple at most trade shows and major conferences because they effectively display purposeful content to the audience. Ok. But what if a wall did more than push content? What if video wall elicited EMOTION? What kind of experience would that evoke? A meaningful one, that’s what.
Who:
HavaVision offers a 3D wall, HavaVision3D, which provides a quality immersive experience without all the inconveniences of the traditional 3D experience, like a need for a projector or the risk of a user experiencing vertigo during engagement. The wall is scalable so it is perfect for museum installations, entertainment experience or high-value product display. And the content experience is WOW! It so happens, a zombie took the screen when I put on the 3D glasses that are required to fully experience the wall, and I just about jumped out of my shoes. No joke. It was awesome.
This is just a taste of what was new and exciting. I will be writing more on these and other new technologies that were on the ExhibitorLive show floor this year. Let me know what you think of these, and if you were there, share with us what your favorites were.
