Each year IBC seeks out ideas which will become the star products not this year but in years to come. The IBC Future Zone is the domain of cutting-edge projects and prototypes, liberated by IBC from the world’s leading R&D labs and universities.
These projects are brought to IBC precisely because they are works in progress. This is your chance to influence their further development. The people manning the stands and running the demonstrations in the Future Zone are the scientists and engineers who are working on the project, so your conversations with them go directly into the project’s thinking.
They welcome your opinions: it could be the idea that takes the work in a whole new direction. This year’s exhibitors include Sphericam and Swissaudec; BBC R&D and ETRI, the Korean Electronics
and Telecommunications Research Institute.
The power of the IBC Future Zone can be seen in success stories from previous years. In 2011 and 2013 goHDR demonstrated the first complete high dynamic range systems. Today it has developed a camera with an 18 f-stop range, and is actively selling a complete pipeline to help other research bodies continue the development.
In 2011 Group 47 showed the concept of bit-plane imagery, a non-magnetic, chemically inert, electromagnetic immune method for long-term storage of digital files. Today it is working on a proof of concept contract from the US government.
The 2012 prototype from the Technische Universität Berlin was hugely popular. It looked like a beach ball, but when you threw it up it took a 360˚ image at the precise moment the ball was perfectly stationary at the top of its flight. Today the ball is half the size, creates 108 megapixel images and is sold as the Panono for €549.
Alongside these glimpses of the future you will also find the technical posters from the IBC Conference. These are ideas that, in the opinion of the technical papers committee, are better presented as interactive posters. Again, the benefit is that visitors can talk with the authors, sharing thoughts and ideas.
The IBC Future Zone is where your preconceptions will be challenged and your imagination startled. It really is an unmissable part of IBC2016. You will find it in the Park Foyer near Hall 8. You can visit the Future Zone at any time during exhibition hours, and it is of course free to all visitors.
