CE Pro June 2022 - 12

Audio+Video
DISPLAYS | COMPONENTS | FURNISHINGS | ENTERTAINMENT | SERVICES
WiSA Technologies
Garner Growing
Adoption
A variety of factors including home
theater, hybrid work schedules and more
partner solutions propels the Wireless
Speaker & Audio Association platform
forward. By Robert Archer
TONY OSTROM, president of
the WiSA (Wireless Speaker &
Audio) Association, says that
over the past couple of years
WiSA has seen an increase in
investment in home technologies,
from home entertainment
to exercise equipment.
Now, integrators can help
lead customers toward continued
wireless audio adoption
as the platform expands
its reach with more partners
and solutions for enjoying
spatial recordings and immersive
surround formats.
One area that's helped
WiSA and its partners grow
during COVID-19 has been
people working from home
(WFH) either on a full-time
or part-time basis with hybrid
work schedules.
" Across the entire category
we've seen a lot of growth.
I think another major contributing
factor too is that
people are much better at
Zoom today than they probably
were two or three years
ago. I think there's been a
time to experience the tech12
| CE Pro June 2022
nology, " Ostrom says.
" There is also so much
content being brought into
homes that I think people
are much more familiar
with the types of content
that's delivered through
their smart TVs or Roku
smart devices, and they're
realizing the quality of the
movie audio and the great
production value in TV
series. The way sports are
recorded and broadcast
today are high quality, and
obviously gaming and even
music now with spatial
audio recordings. "
Ostrom says the WiSA Association
and its partners are
adapting to influences such
as the popularity of smart
TVs and making connections
for boosting connected
audio capabilities easier. He
says a number of display
products are going through
a WiSA certification process,
and there will also be other
products coming to market
to support wireless multichannel
AV applications.
To fuel immersive audio installs, WiSA partners are launching
height speakers and other architectural models with the
association's wireless technologies.
" The purpose is to connect
to all smart TVs and allow
them to be the center of the
home entertainment experience,
which they're absolutely
designed to be today,
and allow them to connect
to whatever speaker system
is right for that use case, that
user, and their expectations.
So, you're going to see a lot
of TVs, " Ostrom says.
For homeowners who want
simpler access to immersive
audio and formats such as
Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, Ostrom
says partners will soon
be launching height speakers
that feature upward-firing
drivers plus architectural
speaker models that incorporate
WiSA technologies.
WiSA is also expecting the
release of some new televisions
that incorporate its
wireless technologies to allow
integrators to easily upgrade
the sound of TVs through
WiSA-enabled speakers.
Ostrom adds that WiSA
will continue to push to
foster high-performance
wireless education for dealers
and homeowners.
" I feel we are doing a lot
more than a typical organization
would do to promote
an entire category. The reason
I say that is because we
will continue to work with
our partners to integrate
wireless audio technologies,
and in many cases, certify
those products to guarantee
to the end user that they
are interoperable with other
products, " he emphasizes.
" We are working to educate
users and bring awareness
to the technology, and
how it benefits their home
entertainment experience.
We are also working with a
WiSA-certified retailer to
train them to help in many
cases, to build out web
pages, and build out store
demos to properly convey
the benefits of wireless
audio technologies. "
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CE Pro June 2022

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