How AI takes communication at live events to the next level

With artificial intelligence already changing the way people live their lives and conduct business, it may very well become a mainstay of events planning and management.

The recent Meetings Show Asia Pacific – held in Singapore on 17-18 April – provided key examples of AI-enabled technologies in action from companies such as Pigeonhole Live and Zenus.

It’s all Greek to me - not anymore

Hew Joon Yeng, co-founder and chief business officer of Pigeonhole Live, a web-based app that provided a platform for attendees to ask questions in any language during presentations and panel discussions, shared: “AI-powered tools such as our real-time translation tool for audience Q&A are set to significantly transform the MICE industry.”

Attendees can participate in Q&A sessions by scanning a QR code onscreen, which allows them to ask questions in their preferred language of English, Simplified Chinese, Malay, and Korean. With the help of AI technology, these questions are then translated in real time into English (the main event language) for broadcast, and similarly from English into each attendee’s preferred language choice on their own personal device.

However, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome – Hew shares that one major difficulty when it comes to languages is that each one has its own nuance and complexity, and it can be tough working with translation algorithms that can successfully convey these with accuracy.

The platform may also struggle with industry-specific jargon that requires specialised knowledge beyond its current capabilities, and the team makes use of feedback that they receive from customers to improve.

Beyond The Meetings Show Asia Pacific, Pigeonhole Live has been used with other companies in sectors that span consumer goods, technology, luxury brands, and banking, including European, Asian, and Japanese firms.

“As pioneers in this field, we foresee that such features will soon become standard offerings in the future. This will become especially crucial for events with diverse audiences, ensuring that every participant can interact and engage with the content effectively, regardless of language barriers,” said Hew.

What’s left unsaid says it all

Not all communication comes in the form of the written word, however, and this is where facial analysis platform Zenus comes in.

CEO and co-founder Panos Moutafis explains more: “When it comes to any type of online marketing activity, you can measure everything – what your audience does, how long they stay on an email, where they clicked off. Everything is recorded. When it comes to offline marketing activities like a tradeshow, it can be much harder to have that same kind of measurement. So, we have developed a technology that can detect and analyse faces without having to identify them.”

In other words, Zenus helps event organisers figure out what audiences want – without the audience having to say a single word. By scanning and analysing facial expressions, the technology allows organisers to understand audience behaviour and engagement.

“So we get an idea around density and traffic – are people staying, are they moving away? Are they not interested? You get an idea of the flow and engagement, and if they’re staying at a particular point of interest during the session, maybe 20 minutes in,” Moutafis said.

For a platform like this, it’s imperative to assure audiences – who have shown increased awareness and concern around issues such as data privacy – that their identity and data remain safe.

“What we do is scan the environment and convert that into statistics, without storing any video or taking any pictures – our device just clips all this information, consolidates it into statistics, and sends it to the cloud.”

So far, Zenus has seen hundreds of deployments, including exhibitors who want to understand how they can optimise their booth’s design effectiveness at tradeshows, and large-scale event organisers who have an eye on event traffic and operations.

“You cannot improve what you cannot study and measure, and we’re modernising the entire flow of end-to-end events,” said Moutafis. “At the end of the day, people want to connect. With tools like these, you can create – you can study and design spaces in a way that facilitates these connections and foster these one-of-a-kind experiences for people.”