“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Or in the case of Prezi…present it.
Prezi has announced that Prezi AR, an innovation that will allow users to create immersive presentations, will be available by the end of the year.
The technology was originally displayed four weeks ago, when Dr. Robert Sapolsky, author of Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst, presented at a TED Talk in Vancouver and streamed it using Prezi AR.
The AR presentation model will give users the opportunity to add images, filters, and video to their video stream.
“Think about the weatherman on television, and how he/she is able to present a map on a greenscreen and seemingly stand next to the map,” says Peter Arvai, CEO at Prezi. “Our model looks like that, however, we do not use any green screens or video effects, it’s all part of the program.”
The announcement is part and parcel with Prezi’s recent innovative push. Most recently, Prezi announced the launch of Prezi Next.
Designed with insight and feedback from Prezi’s 85 million users, Prezi Next is being called by the company a “full life-cycle” presentation platform that allows users to create, present and analyze their presentations.
The model builds on the original Prezi product by incorporating a more intuitive editor with customizable designer templates that help users throughout the creation process.
This format allows presenters to move more freely between topics without having to flip through slides.
“Too often, presentations take a linear approach, where the presenter goes through 50 slides, asks questions, and is forced to scan back and forth through the presentation to find the related slide,” says Arvai. “However, with our approach, which we are calling, ‘Conversational Presenting,’ it allows the conversation to drive the presentation.”
For an upgrade, Prezi Next users can also take advantage of its analytics features which allow users to determine:
- Real-time tracking
- Real-time sharing
- Content optimization
In addition to these company innovations, Prezi also announced the purchase of Infogram, with the hopes of enhancing storytelling with data.
Infogram, which specializes in charts and infographics, will expand Prezi’s abilities to provide more functional and interesting data for presentations.
“There is a lack of insight with big data in presentations sometimes, and we want to come together to help people to better tell that story,” says Arvai.
And while many speculate on how AR will affect automation in the workplace, Arvai sees the technology as just a better opportunity for people to tell stories.
“In our line of work, the human element is extremely important to effectively tell a great story,” says Arvai. “We actually think the future is built for storytelling, even though it may look a little different.”
