M+E Connections

Xperi CEO: Rising Expectations Require Co-Innovation, Joint Tech Development

The past two years have seen a paradigm shift in the relationship between consumers and the technologies that play increasingly important roles at home, on the road and on the go. The pandemic further blurred the already fuzzy lines that distinguish people’s digital and physical lives, causing entertainment technology developers and innovators to reconsider how new value propositions are brought to market.

Comprehensive ecosystem-wide collaboration and coordination will be the key to meeting the needs of increasingly sophisticated consumers who demand high-quality experiences that are easy and safe to use. These factors will rise in importance in the fierce race to keep up with the constantly evolving demands of consumers.

Several phases of technology adoption and consumer interactions have unfolded over the past few decades, especially in personal entertainment and connectivity technologies. In the early days of the digital and personal technology revolution, many people opted to trade some measure of quality for convenience and then convenience for capability.

I can still remember when providers of telephone connectivity to the home promised call-quality levels so high “you could hear a pin drop.” Consumers clearly went in the other direction on call quality as they embraced the convenience — and eventually the enhanced functionality — of mobile devices. A similar trend took place with personal music entertainment. The rise of portable cassette players decades ago fundamentally changed how consumers enjoyed their music, with many leaving their investments in hi-fi analog audio equipment behind.

Succeeding in today’s no-compromise digital economy

Today, the digital experience community operates in a no-compromise economy. Technology and consumer demands have converged to a point where even the most extravagant expectations can now be met. They want high-quality experiences that are easy, intuitive, and secure. The good news is that continuous innovation — such as those occurring in the areas of semiconductor and machine learning technology — make it possible for the industry to meet these needs.

Consumer-facing companies that have figured out how to address these factors — quality, complexity management and trust — are already reaping the rewards through competitive differentiation and market share. That said, sustainable market leadership will require active and focused participation of the larger value chain over the long run.

Just as we are seeing a blurring between our digital and physical lives, we are also seeing much higher levels of integration in how products and services operate to support consumers in their different “connected spaces.” Consumers expect continuity as they move from their homes to their vehicles and into other environments they encounter throughout their day.

As a result, innovators and leaders in the technology development community will have to establish a more thoughtful approach to the “context” of their offerings. This raises interesting questions about supporting consumer interests throughout the day and defining the quality of experiences by responsibly capturing and analyzing a tremendous amount of data from different sources. It is an immense responsibility.

Harnessing Technological Innovation Responsibly

All of this is occurring as innovation cycles on the hardware front (with new impressive developments in semiconductor technology) and in the software arena (as artificial intelligence and machine learning enter the mainstream) accelerate. The convergence of these exciting developments is having a major influence on the innovation curve of digital experiences.

Progress across the entire technology stack is making it possible for new game-changing products and services to enter the market. We are limited only by our imagination in considering the implications of new offerings based on 5G, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and edge-computing technologies — each of which are revolutionary. As the industry — and consumers — mix and match the capabilities of these technologies, the possibilities to create exciting new experiences are nearly infinite.

These trends are raising the bar and opening opportunities for companies — like Xperi and its partners — that are committed to delivering better, more impactful, and more trusted experiences to consumers worldwide.

By Jon Kirchner, CEO, Xperi Corp.