NAB Show 2026 Highlights from Zero Density

The future of broadcast graphics and virtual studio production is showcased with the award-winning tools.

Here’s your front-row seat to everything we showcased at Booth N2461 — from Reality 5 with Chaos Vantage and NVIDIA’s Gaussian splatting to AI-assisted workflows, XR production technologies, Traxis Hub –  democratizes tracking and automatic lens profiling, and vibe coding control interfaces.

Choose Your Preferred Rendering Technology

At the Reality 5 Green Screen Stage, visitors saw the technology preview of Reality 5 with upcoming rendering technologies — Chaos Vantage real-time ray-tracing renderer, NVIDIA’s Gaussian splatting renderer, in addition to Unreal Engine 5, all at the same time.

Talent Tracking data was used to automatically follow the focus of the presenter, correctly place them in a 3D environment, give correct reflections and virtual shadows.

Visitors were particularly drawn to the ability to use Chaos Vantage with existing 3D design tools like Blender and 3ds Max to design their virtual studios. Another option showcased on the stage was 3D-scanned environments that were rendered with NVIDIA’s Gaussian splatting as virtual studios.

At the Reality 5 XR Video Wall Stage with Grass Valley LDX180 camera, any of those renderers was projection-mapped to the video wall. Automatic 3D color profiling of video wall displays around in a minute and automatic color matching in XR productions is demonstrated.

Traxis Hub 3.0 Democratizes Tracking and Lens Profiling

Traxis Hub 3.0 was showcased and will be available soon at zero cost, marking a significant step toward making camera (with automatic lens profiles), object and talent tracking accessible to every production.

At the demo, visitors saw how lens profiles can be created automatically by the users within minutes, using the new Automatic Lens Profiler. In legacy tracking technologies, lens “calibration” was almost a black art, requiring expert knowledge and significant manual labor. Traxis Hub 3.0 changes that entirely.

With the ability to self-service their own lens profiles, production teams can now approach tracking confidently and freely. Traxis Hub 3.0 also supports any third-party FreeD camera tracking rig, such as cranes with mechanical tracking, robotics, PTZ cameras, etc.

As for hardware requirements, it works on a standard Windows 11 computer with a Blackmagic Decklink SDI I/O card.

Local AI Models for News Workflows

The AI-Assisted Workflows demo pod showed what’s coming with local AI models that doesn’t require an internet connection, keeping data private on local servers.

Journalists and news producers saw AI-assisted proof-reading, summarization, text extraction, image description and translation in 100+ languages.

Dictation in 25 languages using webcam/microphone in Reality Hub, real-time transcription of live audio sources with NVIDIA Parakeet ASR and translation of subtitles with Google Gemma 4 Translation models ran live on the demo pod.

Graphics, Playout, and Newsroom Integrations

The broadcast graphics demo pods showed what a modern broadcast graphics pipeline looks like in practice: Unreal Engine 3D environment design, motion graphics templates, a template-driven workflow for on-air, video wall, AR and virtual studio, no-code state-aware graphics with built-in logic, alongside multi-channel graphics production with flexible look, data, and behavior.

Unified template-driven Lino Playout for on-air, AR, VS, XR, video wall; multi-channel playout architecture, alongside flexible Program and Preview for channels, including AR and video wall graphics, brought it all together.

MOS integration with leading NRCS platforms, real-time journalist preview via MOS plugin, automation controls through CII, MOS, REST, and RossTalk, plus a dedicated ticker module and channel branding, addressed the full newsroom and MCR workflow.

Vibe Coding Control Interfaces

The vibe coding section of the demo offered the most forward-looking glimpse. Custom control apps were vibe-coded by non-coders with no prior coding experience, with external data connected to graphics templates.

Custom modules for Reality Hub were developed for data integration and automation through Reality Hub Module SDK, JavaScript API, REST API, and MCP.

Key Industry Themes at NAB 2026

One of the most recurrent topics of conversation during NAB 2026 was render engine flexibility with the freedom of choosing real-time rendering technologies.

Visitors were amazed to see 3D Gaussian splatting renderers and real-time path tracing in addition to game engine rendering. Discussions also focused on how vibe coding with AI models are impacting the broadcast industry.

One of the most visible themes at this year’s NAB was the role of AI across broadcast and content production. From our perspective, AI capabilities are getting more and more built into products, particularly in areas such as automation and overall production processes.

We believe these technologies will increase performance and decrease latencies by augmenting people-powered workflows such as real-time transcribing, translation, summarization, etc.

At NAB 2026, we didn’t just showcase technologies — we invited our users to Imagine Next.

Zero Density develops virtual production and broadcast graphics solutions trusted by the world’s leading broadcasters — including ABC, CBS, Charter Communications, FOX, The Weather Channel, and Univision. Its flagship platform, Reality 5, powers real-time virtual studios, augmented and extended reality productions, and on-air graphics. Complemented by the Traxis tracking platform and EVO engine hardware, Zero Density’s end-to-end ecosystem gives production teams the tools to realize their most ambitious creative visions in real time, without compromise.