Daniel J SaitEI enjoyed a visit to the recently updated AWE Europe showroom this week for the AWE Expo, not just for the impressive new additions and tweaks to existing spaces, but also for confirmation, if needed, that things are changing and the smart home and luxury AV sector is facing a new challenge and opportunity delivering ‘Technology as Design’.
Stuart Tickle, experienced company MD, spoke before the new showroom tour about market confidence, a confidence that comes from 90 years in business, but also from a willingness and ability to spot changes in the market and help installers deliver what customers really want. Stuart underlined that the company’s experience of nearly a century in business allows it to see patterns in development and plan for those changes.
Stuart highlighted a number of opportunities, one being wellness and the growth in genuinely human-centric systems and planning, highlighted by the company’s supply and support for the RAY Lighting brand. Infrastructure was another theme, highlighting the need to provide the basics of modern living with reliable and ambitious networking, now seen as another utility and the backbone of so much that installers should be aiming to deliver.
Another theme from Stuart’s address was education, with the announcement of the AWE Smart Home Academy this year providing agile online training for installers. As the ability to deliver time-saving online education platforms has developed, AWE intends to take full advantage and deliver the benefits of such a scheme to its customers. All the content for this new initiative is being written in-house by the company’s highly experienced team. Stay tuned for more information on the launch.
All of the points raised underlined that the company is thinking about and planning for the future, but none more so than a phrase that Stuart used which really stayed with EI well after the event: ‘Technology as Design’.
Stuart wanted to recognise and explain that AWE’s own shift in emphasis, together with events like this year’s WOW!house involving CEDIA and several smart home installers, underlines a change in approach and a new opportunity to deliver true integration as the sector shifts from supplying well-hidden, well-designed and well-specified ‘systems’ to true integration: Technology as Design.
Now, you could argue that the industry already does this, and to a point you would be right, but if we look back and think about categories such as multi-room music systems, industry veterans like Stuart are recognising that the sector can go further and deliver ‘experiences’ rather than ‘systems’. Rather than having smart home or AV systems as a nice add-on, these become part of the design language available to installers, interior designers and home creators, another part of the palette with which environments can be enhanced for those living within them. This results in them being perceived to be just as much a part of the home as the furnishings and the overall aesthetic experience the property offers.
Underlining the shift
During the event, AWE announced that the company has been appointed as Sony Professional’s European Showroom for Crystal LED. The Apartment now boasts an impressive 165in Crystal LED display which acts as a digital canvas that can transform the look and feel of the room. This exhibit underlines the thrust of this comment, ‘Technology as Design’. Much more than just a ‘very large TV’, the screen can be used, along with audio, to create wonderful experiences that can transport those experiencing it to a tropical island, a mountain waterfall or almost anywhere else imaginable. This really delivers on the Technology as Design principle because it transforms the space, rather than simply providing a fantastic entertainment platform.
As the AWE team also underlined, further developments providing installers with the ability to offer digital art installations as well as entertainment experiences are coming to the Apartment, again reinforcing the experiences-versus-systems concept.
Other systems underlining this trend included RAY’s healthy lighting solutions, showing the measurable impact of lighting design for wellness as well as illumination, which is transforming the lighting sector. The main Apartment space also offers the opportunity to check out a range of LED, RGB LED, Crystal LED and OLED technologies, including a Hisense 116in RGB LED display, Sony RGB LED and an LG OLED Wallpaper TV.
The home cinema demos provided the chance to experience Dirac Active Room Treatment via Marantz in the Reference Cinema, as well as the Epson QL7000 projector and Bowers & Wilkins CI800 Series Diamond speakers that populate the room.
The Performance Cinema delivered a useful comparison between Epson, Optoma and Sony projection, underlining the abilities of each approach. A two-channel experience awaited in the Music Room, with the Denon Home 200, 400 and 600 Series alongside flagship Hi-Fi systems from Bowers & Wilkins and Marantz. Be sure to check out the full round-up of all the updates to the AWE Show Apartment in the Distributor Supplement, available now.
What do you think about the Technology as Design concept? does it present a radical shift and an opportunity for our sector? what are some of the other ways this concept can be delivered? get in touch to have your say dan@essentialinstall.com