FEATURE: DIGITAL SIGNAGE
FUTURE GAZING WITH AUDI SPHERES Audi is using Pufferfish PufferSphere displays to show what the future has in store for the automobile industry. The car manufacturer’s new digital showroom concept includes augmented reality, giant videowalls, concept cars and virtual test drives. The first showroom was opened in Denmark. The company placed three large spheres – dubbed Audi Spheres – in front of the Danish Parliament buildings in Copenhagen. According to Pufferfish, the three-week
screens and they normally would encounter resistance from the IT department that would say ‘not possible’,” he recalls. “Now that you have straightforward media players like ours, it is the technical people that are asking for more fun things to do on the screens. The technology is enabling creativity to flourish.” Konter gives an example:
“We have seen recently a very simple application from one of our customers. They combined projection and LCD screens to create a videowall. They had the projection screen with a cut-out where the LCD screen was. By combining both display solutions, they achieved a videowall with two different brightnesses creating a very
installation this summer was a glimpse of the role technology could play in the showrooms of the future. Conceived by KMS
Blackspace and SCHMIDHUBER, working with Danish interactive design specialists Kollision and AV experts Creative Technology, Audi set out to show off their future brand ambitions through a high-profile experiential marketing installation. Each of the three spheres represented one of Audi’s future brand priorities: lightweight design, electric
innovative visual effect with a small investment.” And what about 3D? For quite a few years now we have heard screen manufacturers talking about auto-stereoscopic glasses- free displays as the next big thing for DS. Tom Zerega, CEO and
founder of US-based Magnetic 3D, says: “We believe that for DS to be relevant to the consumer, it must offer something of value. In an airport, digital signs provide information when the consumer needs it, but your average consumer doesn’t go out of his or her way to look for a digital advertisement. This is why 3D is so interesting, because people are drawn to it irrespective of whether it’s an advert or not. Consumers want to see 3D without glasses because it’s something that seems impossible, and it isn’t available at home (at least for now).” However, Zerega admits being biased. “I don’t really
cars and environmental awareness.
Continuing with the spherical theme, the Pufferfish interactive globes showed a universe of constellations, each triggering a different showreel on the curved wall in front of them. As a 3D object, the PufferSphere represents a balance between a screen medium and sculpture, enticing guests to approach, engage with the messages and ultimately shape the content of the environment surrounding them.
think that 3D alone will be the next big thing in digital signage. Interactivity, gesture-controlled displays and augmented reality (AR) solutions will be bringing another level of engagement to what was once a passive digital signage environment. With any luck, Magnetic 3D will deliver similar solutions that are integrated with 3D capabilities to harness the best of what each has to offer.” Neeraj Pendse, product line
manager for DS at Elo Touch Solutions, agrees: “As a touchscreen company, we naturally believe in the increased wow factor that interactivity – and touchscreens being the dominant technology for interactivity today – brings to a digital signage installation, both for the user and marketers. Interactive technologies can record people’s preferences and even observe human behaviour in the environment, providing valuable metrics to marketers.
EloTouch produces interactive digital signage systems for applications including retail and corporate
“Interactivity also offers a
feeling of ‘control’ on what the consumers see – they can look for the information they want rather than what marketers think they want. The result is elevated user engagement.”
PERSONAL TOUCH DS is increasingly using personal devices such as mobile phones and tablets to engage with the public. A good example of this was the ‘Drag Him Away’ campaign run by the UK National Centre for Domestic Violence in Euston Station, London. Using interactive technology, commuters could turn their mobiles into remote controls and control the characters on the digital posters, dragging the man away from the woman and onto the adjacent billboards. Pufferfish’s Allan also sees
‘Consumers
want to see 3D without glasses because it’s something that seems
impossible’ Tom Zerega, Magnetic 3D
34 October 2012
mobiles as an essential part of the future of DOOH. “The surge in creative AV and signage hardware is dwarfed in comparison to the personal computing revolution,” he says. “The prominence of seemingly utilitarian clocks, weather reports and RSS news feeds in digital signage only speak of lack of imagination and ambition for these digital canvases. Worse still, since a large portion of the population is carrying a smartphone in their pockets, they already have the time, the weather forecast and whatever news they want at their fingertips. The power and potential of what we all carry around in our pockets is truly revolutionary, and more than capable of delivering ‘wow’ results to digital signage installations that are well thought through.” Martine Dodwell-Bennett, sales and marketing director
at Steljes, also points out that mobiles enable the possibility of secure credit and mobile payments together with targeted advertising communications. “The convergence of social media and digital signage platforms is going to change how we use this medium,” she adds.
IMPROVING DOOH Liam Boyle, managing director at creative agency Monster Media, says that it’s not just about using new technology, it’s also about creating the right application: “Any advancement to static digital signage is fantastic, as there is a job to be done there. However, in order to create a truly unique immersive experience, brands need to look towards innovation-led solutions that use smart technology to create more of a lasting connection between consumer and brand. Solutions such as gesture- recognition, multitouch, AR, directional sound, facial and gender recognition all have their place, but must be done for the right reason with a strategic insight at the core.” One of Monster Media’s
most recent interactive applications is the Tesco ‘interactive virtual grocery store’ at Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal (see box, page 35). This enables travellers to select and buy items by scanning the barcodes with their smartphones and have the items delivered upon their return home. Magnetic 3D’s Zerega
believes that there need to be standards and better metrics for DOOH: “It will take a big company like a Google to come in and say, here is how digital is measured in the out-of-home market – unless
www.installation-international.com
STUDY CASE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60