TAVES Consumer Electronics Show 2015 Show Report 
Toronto Audio Video Entertainment Show Part 4
Report By Rick Becker

Jolt! Art Gallery
The Jolt! Art Gallery presentation in the hallway was a curated show of affordable art that included original works and print versions of some of them at even more affordable prices. In several instances the artists were actually present and working on new pieces. The Jolt Art Gallery is unique to TAVES, and the artists, in most cases are represented by permanent galleries in the Toronto area.

This intriguing work by Shoshana Lock tied together a number of themes, the Phantom of the Opera being the most obvious.

Artist Ona Kingdon, who has won awards internationally, was working on a work that touched on my interest in bicycling and music. The large original watercolor seen here is priced at $800 while the matted prints in the closest basket were $50 each and the deluxe art cards in the next basket were priced between $4.50 and $6.00. "Heart Strings", $1115 CAD, the violist on the keyboard was another watercolor that I liked a lot. Ona can be contacted by email at ona@onak.ca.

Gayle Ginn had on display both the original drawing and high resolution copies ($25) of her portrait of Jimi Hendrix and others which seemed very reasonably priced. You can reach her at portraitartistgg@gmail.com.

Technology & Innovation Pavilion In The Richmond Ballroom
There was a lot going on at TAVES besides just audio gear. There was a full spectrum of seminars that I couldn't possibly have time to cover. These change from one year to the next, so you have to do your homework on the TAVES website to find the ones of interest to you and plan accordingly. Another area of interest, particularly to kids, was the Technology & Innovation Pavilion. I poked around a bit, but seldom got involved with any of the booths. Gaming is a billion $$ a month industry, and there was some evidence of that in this room, but the dominant theme here seemed to be 3D printing.

Unfortunately, the kids were cranking out toys instead of tonearms, but give them a few years.... There was also virtual reality in a box, but this didn't quench my curiosity, either.

A local college had a display at another table, but I've maxed out on college degrees at this point in my life.

Robotics is an up-and-coming field that was well represented here.

What really grabbed my attention was the Zeitdice, which is sort of a rounded off Rubik's Cube with a time-lapse video recording capability.

In a former life as an artist I had this great idea of mounting a motor driven Nikon camera on my motorcycle and making a time-lapse movie of North America, crossing it from East to West. The technology was too cumbersome so the idea fermented for a couple of decades until the video camcorder was invented and I made "Texas Radio", a feature length evolution of that original idea. Well, the Zeitdice has me re-thinking the original idea. It is a $150 time-lapse device that shoots in HD and with an app can download the video into your computer. Shooting rate is variable. There are magnets on three sides to mount it onto something metal – duct tape is an option, or one of those three-legged twisty mini-tripods. The unusual design contributes toward making it inconspicuous and somewhat theft-resistant. Elsewhere I've read about a gyroscopic image stabilizer that would help out with shooting from a motorcycle. Hmmm. I can visualize Santa coming down the chimney right now. Kudos to Michael Schwanzer of Zeitdice, Inc. for the demonstration.

Vizio had an 80" 4K Ultra HD TV on display with built-in upscaling that was variable. The image quality of 4K was impressive, as I've said from the start. MSRP of the 80" unit is $5500, but you can expect to pay less if you buy it through Costco or Amazon. A wireless soundbar with side speakers at $499 provided a 5.1 surround solution for the audio. Creative Director of Enjoy the Music.com, Steven R. Rochlin, uses two of Vizio's 70" M70-C3 TVs $1899US and really enjoys their 4k UHD picture quality. Calibration options for the Vizio are excellent and easy to use. The remote control features a full keyboard on the back, which is a must-have for any modern TV!

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