A technology showcase of Panasonic’s B2B solutions has been launched at the company’s headquarter in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The Business Solutions Centre, purpose built at a cost in excess of €1m, offers visitors the opportunity to see and experience the many different solutions that Panasonic offers and is split in to four distinct zones:

• Boardroom and Collaboration
• Intelligent Security Solutions
• Connected Signage
• Live Operation

Unlike similar facilities, the Solution Centre showcases numerous third party products, intelligently combined with Panasonic technology to create working examples of how connected technology solutions can create business without boundaries.

“We think our technology sets businesses free. Our commitment to innovation has the power to make technology invisible, so our customers are free to take their business further,” said Laurent Abadie, Chairman and Chief Executive of Panasonic Europe who officially opened the facility. “In addition to our strong consumer business, Panasonic provides world leading technology products and solutions for business. The new facility provides a platform for customers to work with some of the continent’s best engineers, to design solutions that solve their toughest business challenges.”

Close cooperation with RheinMain University of Applied Sciences

The Business Solution Centre was designed and implemented alongside the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences. Students of the media technology study course, who are on an industrial placement with Panasonic, act as showroom assistants - conducting guided tours in German and English.
Prof. Dr-Ing. Bernhard Gross, Professor for Multimedia Networking at RheinMain University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden and Rüsselsheim said, “The Solutions Centre is at the cutting edge of business technology, so provides our students with a tremendous opportunity to supplement their studies with real world experience in an industry leading facility.”

Digital Signage

The Solutions Centre showcases the latest in Panasonic connected digital signage, integrated with LinkRay technology, which uses LED light to transmit content to mobile devices, and turns digital signage displays, signboards and light sources into 1-2-1 marketing tools for smartphones. The signage also uses age and gender recognition to deliver targeted advertising specific to the viewer.
As the name suggests, the COMMsCUBE is a multi-faceted, multi-device environment designed to adapt to modern business needs. A sleek and clean work environment, it contains a multitude of hidden technologies that work seamlessly in the background to provide a truly interactive and collaborative work space.

Designed around a concept by German AV planner macom, the ‘COMMsCUBE’ demonstrates how AV technology can be used to encourage collaboration, unified communication, interactivity and the growing trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). The work.space.experience area is suitable for ad-hoc meetings, huddles, standard conferencing and a worklab environment - as well as a flexible showroom.

Security Solutions

The live event space includes technology for the automatic capture of events and conferences. Autotracking technology is set up in the auditorium within the Solutions Centre so that, using facial recognition, any presenters are tracked around the stage by PTZ cameras.
Finally, the intelligent security zone highlights the latest in smart security analytics so that indoor and outdoor CCTV cameras can provide powerful demographic data as well as a personalised customer experience thanks to facial recognition. Privacy is assured thanks to people masking technology.

The Business Solution Centre is a research facility as well as a show room. Future research will focus on state-of-the-art AV-applications for industries such as entertainment and higher education, solutions for a more personalised retail experience and collaboration tools for connecting decentralised business.

The Business Solutions Centre strengthens Panasonic’s presence in Wiesbaden. Panasonic coordinates its European business from Hessen’s capital and has approximately 300 employees at the site - a steady increase of seven per cent since 2012.