What impact have the current global uncertainties had on the company’s R&D and product development in recent months?
Today, AEQ is working on projects in 106 different countries worldwide, and we try to create solutions for quite different end users: community radio stations and also big broadcasters, small production houses and international channels with different studios in various places. So AEQ’s new products must try to cover a huge range of possible projects, and that’s a great condition in our R&D plans.
These uncertainties make things complicated, but at AEQ, we always follow very clear internal rules: use international protocols, test our plans with a big group of traditional customers to obtain real feedback that allows us to correct the original idea, and robust and user-friendly new products. With these three topics covered, we feel safe from big mistakes, as our last 46 years in the market proves.
What do you foresee as the biggest challenges in R&D and product development/deployment in the coming years?
AI models like ChatGPT and similar are changing the world, affecting all human activities, and for sure also the broadcast industry. So AEQ wants to include it as soon as possible in our products, to help end-users.
By default, AEQ’s new products include functions in the cloud because we see it as the future and leads to a big advantage in final operations.
Remote production maybe is a version of the previous point, but over the last few years we have seen more broadcasters move to remote production instead of traditional onsite programmes.
Where do you see the most opportune areas for innovation in your area of the market, and what tech/solutions will drive that development?
Mostly the points made above. We feel there are very big opportunities in the market for our units and systems. We want to promote AI, cloud and remote production functionalities in our future material.
What are you working on currently that excites you as a product team, and what can we expect to see at IBC2025?
If you visit AEQ at stand 8.C55, you will discover new AEQ SOLARIS audiocodec, perfect for remote production and cloud operations, and the AEQ XPEAK intercom, specifically designed with those opportunities in mind.
We will continue working on new material, and perhaps we can reveal some more news before the show.
