Startups promote 8K and 360-degree broadcasting solutions at Inter Bee in Tokyo

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This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


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Photo by Jerrey Suppan

This year, startups like Soracom took part in the professional broadcasters’ confab Inter Bee. Held from November 16 for three days at Makuhari Messe, the startup could be found at the joint Amazon Web Service (AWS) booth. Also, its evangelist Kazutaka Goto gave live streaming demonstrations at the Cloudpack corner using mobile routers at 4K size underscoring the usefulness of Soracom solutions even as broadcasting and telecommunications converge further.

Dec 2 update: A sentence above was partially deleted due to our misunderstanding about which connectivity was being used in the Cloudpack booth.

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The Cloudpack booth
Image credit: Cloudpack

Inter Bee had some 38,000 people from over three dozen countries/regions converge at the Chiba waterfront convention center. It is considered to be a gathering which sets the trend for future media business, a field many startups are eyeing keenly. In Japan for example the Olympics slated for 2020 is seen by many to be one of the driving forces behind an expanding media market here and in the rest of Asia.

This trendsetting aspect of the Japan Electronics Show Association event can be highlighted by the fact that 4K size for the display will next being enhanced further by 8K. Should 8K come to largely supplant its predecessor size in the next few years, startups would need to adapt (let’s say in IoT solutions provider Soracom’s case, cloud-related systems) to the next standard.

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Image credit: Motion Elements

Another display tech area relevant to startups with info-tech prowess is Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality. The royalty-free visual/audio assets startup Motion Elements unveiled their beta-version VR / 360° panoramic photo and moving picture marketplace at Makuhari Messe, targeting the Asian arena. Motion Elements is invested in by such outfits as KK Fund, Incubate Fund and 500 Startups.

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Augmented TV
Image credit: NHK Engineering System

The Japanese public TV operations NHK showcased more recent results of its technical laboratory efforts on “Augmented TV” development at this broadcaster’s booth, among the thousand booths that were found at this year’s event. This Augmented TV utilizes a “stretchable” vertical display to offer an experience tied in with digital signage. Being a public entity, of course many startups can explore the possibility of making use of this system once ready.