The ICCE-2017 Conference: Eyewitness Impressions

13 February 2017

The team of St.Petersburg State University of Film and Television has worked as an official videographer of the ICCE International Consumer Electronics Conference in Las Vegas. The delegation of our university included the Head of the International Relations Office Konstantin Glasman, the photographer of the photographic studio of the Film Photography Department Viktor Korolyov and the 4th year student of the Television Department Darya Mikhailova

A man in an expensive suit, with a glass of Martini in his hand, stands behind the platform. This is the Honorary Mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman, who came to greet all participants and organizers of the ICCE International Consumer Electronics Conference, traditionally taking place in early January in his beloved city.

"Las Vegas has a lot of opportunities for different people. Las Vegas is the world capital of entertainment, the touristic capital", -he begins his speech. "The only thing we can`t boast about ... It`s not the most intelligent place on earth," continues Goodman, his companions in high headwears with feathers smiling coquettishly. "But now the most intelligent people of the planet have gathered here."

The smartest people on the planet are scientists and engineers engaged in research and development in the field of consumer electronics, representatives of the world's largest consumer electronics and consumer electronics companies (LG Electronics, Sony Electronics), media professionals (for example, representatives of the National Association of Broadcasters NAB), professors and students from America, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Serbia, France, China and other countries. All of them come to share their unique developments, establish international contacts, exchange business cards, find potential employers, employees or business partners and just have a great time in the company of the like-minded people.

The team of the St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, consisting of the Head of the International Relations Office Konstantin Glasman, the photographer of the photographic studio of the Film Photography Department Viktor Korolyov and the 4th year student of the Television Department Darya Mikhailova came to Las Vegas with another important mission. Our task was to videotape the meetings and speeches of the speakers, to edit high-quality videos, and then publish them on the official YouTube channel of the Consumer Electronics Society CESocTV.

CESocTV is an excellent video platform for those who couldn`t personally participate in the forum, but would very much like to listen to the conference reports. Moreover, ICCE's main theme this year was such relevant and interesting as the "Virtual and Augmented Lifestyle".

The many Keynotes and special Sessions subjects anyhow concerned with issues of augmented and virtual reality, the prospects of using them in computer video games, in everyday life, medicine and other spheres of life. So, one of the speakers - Ferhan Özkan - Senior Business Development Manager at the German company Crytek, specializing in the development of computer games and graphics technologies, predicted the advent of a new era - the era of VR and AR technologies. And as an argument, he gave a video fragment, which clearly shows how VR can be applied in education. Wearing glasses of virtual reality, you can, for example, immerse yourself in the world of the Jurassic period, consider the approaching tyrannosaur and even look into its toothy mouth. Be sure, the information will be learned much better than just a text of the encyclopedia.

In addition to research in the VR and AR areas, reports on the Internet of Things, modern security and privacy systems, car applications, innovations in broadcasting, and other technologies related to consumer electronics were also presented at the conference.

I was particularly impressed by the special sensors sewn into the tissue and allowing to take the pulse, monitor the heart rate, measure body temperature, analyze the posture and disposition of sweating, the application for smartphones that takes 360-degree panoramas, the human body scanning device that builds an accurate 3D- A model that will be useful in the areas of health and fitness, and in medical and physiological research, 3D printing or online shopping.

In total, our team shooted seven special sessions (The Directions of IEEE Development , Next Generation Broadcasting, Industrial Meeting on Consumer Technologies, Requirements for Standardization and Development in VR / AR, 3D Body Processing Technology (3DBP), experience of consumer engagement"," Mixed reality - engineering experience "), which included more than 25 speeches of speakers, as well as six plenary sessions.

Our team was also engaged in the shooting and installation of poster-stands, where representatives of various companies, organizations, universities present developments in the field of consumer electronics. Participation in the poster session is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your scientific project, share an idea, and attract potential employers or sponsors. The innovation of the ICCE conference this year is the Best Poster Video Award video contest on the YouTube channel CESocTV. The winners, whose speech will collect more views, will receive a free annual membership in the Consumer Electronics Society.

Inspired by the main theme of ICCE, we made a final film about the conference with elements of the feature film. Of course, our glasses of augmented and virtual reality were not real, but it didn`t stop the actors from among the participants and organizers of the consumer electronics conference from brilliantly playing their roles and immersing themselves in an imaginary world. Our glasses helped the heroes find their way to the right audience, instantly scan the press and brochures about ICCE, download the topics of all the special sessions and even took care that the conference participant did not forget to eat. See what we`ve made on the channel CESocTV.

Visiting the International Consumer Electronics Conference in Las Vegas and working on it as a cameraman, an editor and even a director is an invaluable experience for any student. An operative decision-making, confident possession of video and audio equipment, creative approach to work, teamwork - that was what I had to face and what should be prepared, going to ICCE.