At the recently-concluded HARMAN Technology Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada, American audio electronics company Harman International Industries (HARMAN) revealed how Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and modern mobility technologies are reshaping entertainment, commerce, and consumer experiences.
HARMAN, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics since 2017, is a global leader in connected car technology, lifestyle audio innovations, design and analytics, cloud services, and IoT solutions. The company maintains major operations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and is currently headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA.
No less than the “Godmother of the Metaverse” Cathy Hackl opened this year’s HARMAN Technology Forum trying to convince the people in attendance on how the metaverse is going to change how we interact, entertain, and travel among many things. Hackl emphasized that the metaverse and technologies like AR/VR are just the entry points into the new tranches of experience — and it is going to take time before we see it take off, even if consumers are already looking for new and innovative experiences today. She cited metaverse use cases like people building virtual homes, immersing themselves in virtual concerts and games, and how businesses are opening new worlds that created an explosion in the consumer experience market.
There was also a fireside chat with Silicon Valley veteran and Tesla Co-founder Martin Eberhard, who shared his motivation for starting the company: he wanted to own a Porsche sports car in 2002, and he was not an EV (electric vehicle) enthusiast (yet) then, but thinking about the environment and the use of fossil fuels led him to the engineering marvel that most electric cars use today.
Attendees of the HARMAN Technology Forum also heard interesting points of discussion from Teddy Zee, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of mintNFT; Alex Saratsis, Co-Managing Director of Octagon; Lawrence Edmondson, Chief Technology Officer of Barbarian; Dr. Anita Sengupta, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Hydroplane Ltd.; Chris Ludwig, VP – EPIC Experience Team at Harman International; and Kelei Shen, Chief Technology Officer of HARMAN.
The forum ended with the HARMAN XTC Challenge pitching competition won by electric wheelchair startup GoGoTech (Abby).
“Despite the pause in big live events these past years, we didn’t stop connecting with each other. Advanced technologies enabled us to experience events, meetings, and forums, where we can interact in virtual environments. And whether it was virtual or in person, HARMAN was there. We have always played a central role in providing consumer-centric, experience-led technologies and solutions. From consumer audio to automotive, to the enterprise, it is HARMAN’s laser-focus on experience that is the connected tissue around the DNA,” according to Michael Mauser, President and Chief Executive Officer of HARMAN in closing the forum.
JBL Fest 2022
JBL Fest returns with a bang in Las Vegas from 27 to 29 September 2022. I was one of the lucky ones to be invited to this once-in-a-lifetime celebration of live music event where all guests were treated as VIPs. I was in the mosh pit watching live performances from Doja Cat, Martin Garrix, Bebe Rexha, Tigerlily, and The Kid LAROI at the House of JBL, JBL Live!, and Club JBL events.
Attendees of this year’s JBL Fest also had the chance to test and try different JBL devices at listening stations.
