Crestron has officially opened its new London Experience Space, creating a working demonstration environment in the City of London where integrators and end users can experience its collaboration, control, AV-over-IP and management technologies in real-world room configurations.
The facility at 17 St Swithin’s Lane was formally opened on 1 October with a ribbon-cutting event attended by customers, partners and representatives from some of the UK’s largest commercial AV integrators. A dedicated residential event followed on October 2 as Crestron began opening the space to its wider customer base
Crestron says the Experience Space has been designed to address applications spanning commercial, education, residential, retail, command and control and hospitality, with the office operating as an integrated demonstration environment rather than a collection of isolated product displays.
At the heart of the facility is a large, open presentation and events
area designed to be reconfigured for customer demonstrations, workshops and other events. Sennheiser ceiling microphones are installed alongside camera technology capable of capturing presenters at the front of the room, allowing visitors to experience the system as it would operate in a working environment.
During a tour of the facility, Paul Martin, business development manager at Crestron with a focus on the UK education market, highlighted higher education as one example of how the flexible space could be used. University AV and IT teams could, for example, be brought into the centre and the area configured to replicate a lecture theatre, allowing both
the user experience and the technology behind it to be demonstrated.
The same principle extends well beyond education. Crestron is positioning the centre as a resource for its integrator partners, which will be encouraged to bring prospective customers into the space to see systems working before committing to a deployment.
Importantly, the technology has not all been hidden from view. While demonstrations can focus on simplicity for the end user, visitors responsible for deploying and managing AV estates can also get closer to the infrastructure and see how systems have been constructed.
A selection of Crestron control interfaces reinforces the range of
possible approaches. Martin noted that a touchpanel is not necessarily the right answer for every room, with different control options available according to the application, required functionality and budget.
Elsewhere in the open area, a Microsoft Teams solution comprising a display and videobar is integrated into Holzmedia furniture, alongside two collaboration tables. One of those tables provides a live demonstration of XiO Cloud, with its dashboard displaying data from the Experience Space itself rather than a prepared demonstration environment.
XiO Cloud provides centralised deployment, monitoring and management of supported workplace technology, allowing visitors in London to see the status and operation of devices
in the centre in real time.
Just off the main area is the flagship meeting room, where Crestron has pushed the demonstration further. Room scheduling panels are installed at the entrance, while inside a 12-camera configuration demonstrates the upper end of Crestron’s Automate VX multi-camera capabilities as part of the wider Crestron Sightline meeting experience. Automate VX can switch and composite feeds from up to 12 cameras, while Sightline combines intelligent video, multi-camera speaker tracking and multiple in-room displays for hybrid meetings.
The room also provides an opportunity to see Crestron’s recently launched Collab Compute platform in a finished deployment. Two tabletop touchpanels
and cable cubbies provide user access, with AirMedia also available and signals distributed through the DM NVX AV-over-IP platform.
Collab Compute is designed as a foundation for native meeting platforms, providing support for multi-camera intelligent video, multiple displays and professional AV connectivity, while integration with XiO Cloud brings the compute platform into Crestron’s wider device management environment.
A second, more standard meeting room deliberately presents a less elaborate deployment, with a dual-display configuration and a single unit incorporating two cameras. Here Crestron is also demonstrating its DM NAX Intelligent Audio platform, including the new networked tabletop pods.
Two versions of the pod allow
systems to be configured with either microphone-only units or combined speaker and microphone devices. Both connect over the network and use PoE, with audio processing and routing handled as part of the DM NAX Intelligent Audio architecture.
The contrast between the meeting rooms is deliberate, showing how Crestron technology can scale from comparatively straightforward deployments to high-end, multi-camera spaces rather than presenting one prescribed approach.
That philosophy is also reflected in the number of third-party technologies incorporated throughout the centre. Appspace powers digital signage around the facility, while partner brands represented include Sennheiser, Shure, Sony, Holzmedia, Peerless-AV, Optima Systems and Shadow EMEA.
Although the Experience Space inevitably provides a broad showcase for the Crestron ecosystem, interoperability is an important part of its message. Martin stressed that the objective is not to push customers towards an entirely Crestron deployment, but to demonstrate how its products can sit alongside technologies from other manufacturers to create a complete system.
That message continues into the rack room, which has itself been made part of the demonstration. Rather than keeping the infrastructure out of sight, visitors can inspect the neatly installed equipment supporting the rooms around them and connect the experiences at the user interface with the AV, network and
processing technology behind them.
For Robin van Meeuwen, Crestron regional director, the ability to demonstrate that technology in operation is central to the investment.
“Our continued investment in key markets with such experience spaces, gives such a boost to interest in Crestron technology because people can come here and see the technology working in a real life situation,” he said.
With flexible presentation facilities, contrasting meeting room deployments, live cloud management and access to the infrastructure powering it all, the London opening gives Crestron a permanent location where integrators and their customers can move beyond individual product demonstrations and experience complete systems in operation.