Visual Technologies: No Longer Optional

Each year, a small set of technologies graduate from academia and hackerdom to the real world. Most recently, chatbots, VR, 3d scanning, drones and visual object recognition have earned their mortarboards.

For investors, founders, technologists and artists it is critically important to keep tabs on what’s graduating and when optimally to begin experimenting with new technologies or novel approaches to old problems.

And therefore it is important to know where to look. Every day we are inundated with tech news, investor news, M&A news. But where do you go, online or IRL for clarity in where things are and where they are headed? In fact, the most inspiring people I know dedicate a material chunk of their attention to constantly honing their sources on inspiration and information. I try to do the same.

There are a handful of great meetups and conferences that achieve an elusive marriage of science, enterprise and pragmatic application. Finding them, participating in their communities and molding your learnings into tangible business and creative products is something I spend a fair amount of time on.

At my company, Kontor visual technologies are an essential part of the service we build for architects and designers. Our customers thrive on our constant improvements in image search and content presentation. We keep our eyes on what’s next in 3d modeling, VR, AR, image intelligence and many other areas. And to do that, we seek venues and networking opportunities to learn and share.

In 2016 I’d venture to say that no matter what you are building, visual technologies need to be part of your (ahem) vision. Immersive experiences must be part of any media offering. Visual intelligence must be part of any smart platform. Hardware and software businesses have to be current on what’s possible now and what’s on the verge of possibility.

It’s my privilege to be involved again this year in the LDV Vision Summit, as I have been since its inception. Its founder, Evan Nisselson of LDV Capital, brings together startups, innovative big companies and a host of individuals who are driving visual technologies forward at a breakneck pace, all with a grounding in pragmatism and cooperative learning about what the near future holds. This event gets better every year; if you are reading this and able to get to NYC next week, you most certainly should attend. Join us and tell me about your predictions for the near future and what you are doing about them.