InfoComm 2017, Booth 2056 – SP Controls is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the shipment of its first product designed for simple, intuitive AV system control.
The founders of SP Controls had a vision: to make audiovisual control technology both easy and inexpensive. The company’s primary focus was on the education market, where teachers continually struggled with managing multiple AV devices while simultaneously trying to maintain control over class content and students. The first product to come out of this vision was the Smart Panel, a user-configurable system that provided easy control of screens and projectors in classrooms. The first Smart Panel was deployed at Stanford University in 1997. SP Controls followed up this product with the highly popular Pixie, Pixie Pro and Pixie Plus room controllers, light switch-sized control panels with simple button access for projectors, DVD players, speaker volume, etc. With a consistent, standardized interface, teachers now had the ability to control AV equipment no matter which classroom they were using.
Other products have followed during the past 20 years including units for networking and networked room management; innovative signal distribution systems (including the AmpLINC, which distributes audio and power to ceiling speakers using CAT5/6 cable), and the SmartBox / SmartBox II systems for secure, single-point mounting of AV control equipment in a room.
In 2011, SP Controls launched its Doceri Classroom system, the first iPad-based “interactive whiteboard” system which allows teachers to both manage and actively annotate content from anywhere in the room. This system was followed in 2012 by a version of Doceri Classroom that allows the drawing portion of a screencast to be created and edited separately from audio voiceover.
“For two decades, the driving force at our company has been to make audiovisual technologies easier to use in the classroom, conference room or boardroom,” said Paul Brown of SP Controls. “Our customers have provided superb input over the years, and we look forward to continuing to bring innovative, intuitive products to the market for many years to come.”
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About SP Controls:
Headquartered in South San Francisco, CA, SP Controls has revolutionized audiovisual control technology since 1997 with innovative, easy-to-use, and inexpensive products for classrooms and collaboration rooms. In addition to its line of control systems, SP Controls created the popular Doceri tablet-based interactive whiteboard systems used by teachers and presenters worldwide. www.spcontrols.com