DigitalSignage Issue 1 by Alchemedia Publishing

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

issue #1

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Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

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DIGITAL SIGNAGE Integrate 2010 presents a one-day conference: Digital Signage – The Power of Digital Networked Display. The digital signage revolution is upon us. Are you ready? In conjunction with Infocomm International, Integrate presents Digital Signage: The Power of Digital Networked Display. Under the direction of InfoComm Academy staff instructor, Rod Brown, the day will explore many of the technical demands – from networking and delivery – through to design elements and the ‘human’ factors of a digital signage system. We look at sign placement, legibility and the effective use of sound combined with signage. Learn how to discuss and present networked and non-networked signage solutions to your clients with confidence; discover how signage solutions can maximise customer impact. Digital signage applications, environments and physical aspects of sign placement are also discussed. Topics range from simple signage systems to more

elaborate solutions. Special guest, Rod Sommerich, from Swiss digital signage specialists Spinitex, will show examples of digital signage in action. Rod will look at real-world examples of how digital signage informs, directs, stimulates and inspires. Who’s it For: At the conclusion of this day you’ll have an appreciation for the specialised challenges and opportunities presented by this emerging market sector. Places are strictly limited so bookings are essential. Email: seminars@integrate-expo.com or book online, www.integrate-expo.com and follow the links. Certification Renewal Units

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What not to understand?

Editorial:

Story: Christopher Holder

Out of Place Home-Based Digital Kiosk Media Technology…

Huh?

Let’s not get too wrapped up in the minutae of what digital signage is or isn’t and all the various flash names bandied about, or indeed the many vertical markets that digital signage solutions can be tailored to… let’s take a step back. Understanding digital signage is simple.

Let’s think about a regular sign. It might be a film poster at the cinema. It could be billboard on the side of a building. It might be a note to staff in the canteen. Or, we could be talking about a Mid Year Sale sign in a department store. Signs are everywhere and we have an instinctive understanding of what they are and what they’re for: namely, to inform and to sell things. But what would you say if I told you that you could change that film poster automatically, from kids’ movies in the morning to M-rated flicks in the evening? Or, what would you think if I said you could triple your money on billboard space by being able to rotate the ads without lifting a finger? How would you react if I said you could automatically change the ‘wash your hands’ sign over the staff sink to provide daily updates on performance targets etc? Finally, would you believe me if I said that the big red Sale sign on the shop floor could actually change to display genderspecific ads depending on who is walking past it?! All this is possible with digital signage. In fact, it’s happening right now. ‘But you make it sound easy,’ I hear you say. ‘Surely digital signage is expensive and complicated to maintain?’.

It’s as easy or as hard to maintain as a website. Want a simple html site with your contact info and an ‘About us’ page? Clearly this is a job that any high school IT student could

do. Well, in the same way, you can easily have a Powerpointstyle display in front of your meeting room or foyer, or a good-looking digital menu at the front of your restaurant.

Conversely, there are websites like Google or Apple which are flippin’ enormous and have hundreds of people feverishly updating and optimising them. In the same way, you could have a digital signage network over hundreds of sites comprising hundreds of different simultaneous pages – which is exactly what some of the big retailers are doing right now.

Pics: Andy Ciddor

Do you need to understand the workings and machinations of a digital signage system? Again, let’s draw the web presence corollary. Some technical knowledge is an advantage. If you’re totally green then you’re more easily sold a pup – and we all want to be in control of our own destiny here. But you can maintain your own digital signage system by the simple drag ‘n’ drop content creation and scheduling software that is available. Does this mean you can install a digital signage system? Perhaps. If you or your staff have some computer networking expertise. But, as a rule, best leave it to the experts.

There’s plenty to know and learn about digital signage, and a thousand ways of getting things wrong, there’s no doubting that, but there’s no need to be over-awed. DigitalSignage will take you through the challenges, tricks and tips, and we’ll introduce you to people who’s businesses have been changed by digital signage. I invite you to get in contact. Let me know what your business is doing. In the meantime, I hope you find the first issue of DigitalSignage to be practical and inspiring. 

Christopher Holder

Editorial Director chris@dsmag.com.au

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

CONTENTS ISSUE 1 2010 Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Advertising Office: (02) 9986 1188 PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086

Editorial Office: (03) 5331 4949 PO Box 295, Ballarat, VIC 3353

Publication Manager: Stewart Woodhill (stewart@dsmag.com.au) Editorial Director: Christopher Holder (chris@dsmag.com.au) Publisher:

Philip Spencer (philip@dsmag.com.au) Art Direction & Design: Dominic Carey (dominic@alchemedia.com.au) Additional Design: Leigh Ericksen (leigh@alchemedia.com.au) Contributing Editor: Graeme Hague (news@dsmag.com.au) Sub Editor: Lisa Clatworthy Accounts: Jen Temm (jen@alchemedia.com.au)

IN ACTION 8 PumpTV 10 Hard Rock Cafe 11 The Venetian Macao TECHNOLOGY 12 Christie MicroTile 13 NEC Live EXPERTISE 16 Retail 18 Back End 19 Creative

FEATURES 20 Sydney Opera House 24 Adelaide Entertainment Centre 28 Sydney Airport NEWS 34 News & Info REFERENCE 38 Whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Who Company Profiles COMMENT 42 Mug Punter

Circulation Manager: Mim Mulcahy (subscriptions@dsmag.com.au)

alchemedia publishing pty ltd (ABN: 34 074 431 628) PO Box 6216, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 info@alchemedia.com.au All material in this magazine is copyright ÂŠ 2010 Alchemedia Publishing Pty Ltd. The title AV is a registered Trademark. Apart from any fair dealing permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. The publishers believe all information supplied in this magazine to be correct at the time of publication. They are not in a position to make a guarantee to this effect and accept no liability in the event of any information proving inaccurate. After investigation and to the best of our knowledge and belief, prices, addresses and phone numbers were up to date at the time of publication. It is not possible for the publishers to ensure that advertisements appearing in this publication comply with the Trade Practices Act, 1974. The responsibility is on the person, company or advertising agency submitting or directing the advertisement for publication. The publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions, although every endeavour has been made to ensure complete accuracy. 13/8/10

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Under the Pump Mmm lollypops. PumpTV installs thousands of ‘bowser screens’, filling up car owners with ads.

In Action

This is one of those ideas that everyone wishes they’d thought of first. What do you do, while you’re filling the car up with petrol? Most of us watch the dollars ticking over with a sort of futile hope, praying for a miracle that the tank isn’t really as empty as the gauge has been telling us. Then we zone out until petrol begins spilling on our shoes. Originally it was Gas Station TV in the US which figured out that your modern petrol bowser is a good place to install a screen. It has power, protection from the elements, security surveillance, an existing network connection if needed and – most crucial of all – a captive audience just looking for something to... well, look at. PumpTV has picked up the ball here in Australia and has a growing network of screens in petrol stations across the country. Its target is 4800 LCD screens in 400 outlets by 2012 and that’s looking achievable, with PumpTV now operating in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. By the way, those 4800 screens will equate to something like 12 million viewers per month, out-stripping the best of any television ratings and without any annoying, repetitive TV shows interrupting the adverts.

Pump TV: www.pumptv.com.au 8

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Only kidding. Partnered with Seven Network and Yahoo!7, PumpTV knows better than to just regale customers with advertisements. News, sports and weather reports are part of the broadcasts with the content updated four times a day. The news programming provides the template for one type of advertising; static or flash-animated designs called ‘wraps’ that border the vision for either 10 or 20 seconds. Alternatively advertisers can buy slots for standard 15- and

30-second commercials, complete with audio accompaniment. Fortnightly or monthly campaigns are available. It’s interesting that because PumpTV is tied closely to the outlet’s turnover of petrol, it gets access to hard data about audience figures and exposure. In other words, although there will always be customers who make a point of turning their back and not watching the screen, the PumpTV system can provide an accurate measurement of how many people have seen, or potentially will see, the material based on the number of times the bowser is used. It’s a marketing edge that not many forms of media broadcasting, let alone digital signage, can really offer. All the screens are a standard 19-inch sunlight-readable LCD unit with full audio. Connection to the network is via a wireless link, there isn’t any need to tap into the existing bowser data cabling. The entire program that’s shown is a five-minute loop, although the estimated average time we spend filling up the car is more like four minutes. The program is triggered by motion detectors near the pump, so even if you’re sneaking through for a quick, freebie windscreen clean without actually buying petrol, PumpTV will come to life. It’s clever stuff. The only drawback could be for people like the fellow I once saw filling up the long-range tanks on his 4WD. He could have watched the uncut version of Gone With The Wind and a party political broadcast or two before the pump clicked on full. Or perhaps something to cheer him up, before he went to pay the bill. — GH. 

Venetian Class Macau’s biggest ups digital signage ante.

The Venetian Macao is a great showcase for how the hospitality industry is employing digital signage to promote services, serve patrons and increase revenue. The Venetian is located on the Cotai Strip in Macau, is currently the largest hotel in Asia and the fourth largest building in the world. Once inside you’re free to hop on a gondola, and play one of the 3400 slot machines or 800 gaming tables. There’s 1.2 million sqft of convention and meeting facilities, 3000 guest suites, a 15,000seat arena, 350 retail shops and more than 35 restaurants.

exhibition facilities, casino space and on floors of the hotel itself. Six of the players are quad-channel systems that feed displays to four monitors simultaneously, while others are dual-channel systems feeding two screens from a single unit. Four InfoCaster Player systems serve as backup machines to ensure uninterrupted service.

In Action

Streamlining the design of the visually complex presentations, InfoCaster Creator systems enable the creative teams to produce digital signage displays that sync to a wide variety of media elements, including text, video clips, digital effects, live streaming media, real-time tickers and scrolls, and 3D animations and graphics — all in a multi-zone screen presentation. The templates enable digital signage displays to be composed, updated, or repurposed quickly and easily, without starting over from scratch. All data moves in real-time over an Internet Protocol (IP) network, data is sent, retrieved and downloaded to the InfoCaster players automatically.

In such a huge operation, it was important to install a digital signage system that would enable different departments within the resort — such as sales, entertainment and scheduling — to compose, control, send and track their own messaging throughout the complex. In addition, digital signage for the resort needed to be custom-tailored to the specific needs of each zone, while also promoting themes such as the progressive slot machine jackpots in the casino; other Sands casino hotel resorts worldwide; daily restaurant specials; and upcoming concerts and sporting events. And, since the majority of the resort visitors would be coming from neighbouring mainland China and Hong Kong, it was vital the digital signage system be able to display all text in both English and Mandarin Chinese on the same screen.

The Harris digital signage system is saving and making The Venetian a packet. Without the system it would have to position more personnel around the facility to convey basic information and direct people, or rely upon conventional signage such as letter boards and posters, which lack the visual impact of an InfoCaster-produced digital signage presentation.

The Venetian Macao installed a Harris digital signage solution, comprising more than 150 InfoCaster Player systems. The players enable near-film resolution content to be fed to banks of 42-inch, 1080p, colour LCD monitors placed in high-traffic areas throughout the building, including the conference and

Perhaps most importantly, the digital signage system allows the company to creatively promote its activities and services, which drives consumer traffic and dollars to shops, restaurants, bars, concerts, sporting events and the casino, thereby increasing sales and revenue throughout the resort. 

Harris: www.harris.com Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Touchy Feely Touchscreens have been around for years but it took the iPhone to give touchscreen technologies a real boot forward. There’s a good variety of touchscreen flavours, such as: resistive, surface capacitive, projected capacitive, infrared, surface acoustic wave (SAW), and optical imaging. Other technologies include: dispersive signal technology (DST), acoustic pulse recognition, LCD in-cell optical, and force sensing. Phew. NextWindow’s technology uses optical sensors to detect the touch point, and the touch registers just before the physical touch on the screen. This means that users can apply zero or light touch to the screen to initiate a response, and any input device, such as a paintbrush, finger, pen, or stylus will work. The advantages of NextWindow’s take on the touchscreen is the lack of a physical coating on the screen and it can scale to very large displays (120 inches). Next Window: (02) 9417 4924 or www.idt.com.au

Touch of Rock Forget ‘Please do not touch’ signs, Hard Rock Cafés are positively encouraging their customers to reach out.

In Action

IDT (Next Window): 1300 666 099 or www.idt.com.au

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Times, they are a’changing at the Hard Rock Café. It used to be that music mad customers wishing to ogle John Lennon’s round specs or Bono’s sunnies would have to stick their nose up against the glass of the display cabinet. Now though, they can get an up close and personal experience with many of the chain’s 70,000 pieces of rock memorabilia, thanks to Café Solo. Café Solo is the result of a joint project between the Hard Rock and Obscura Digital. It’s a cost-effective way to provide customers an almost hands-on experience of Hard Rock’s thousands of memorabilia items. The units haven’t yet made it to Australian Hard Rock Cafés – so you’ll be travelling to Seattle, Dallas or Berlin to try it out

yourself for now – but plans are afoot to roll them out to more restaurants. Basically, Café Solo is a 52-inch NEC monitor integrated by Horizon Display with NextWindow 2150. The NextWindow 2150 technology, which is reliable and cost-effective according to Obscura Digital’s Patrick Connolly, provides a ‘frame rate’ of 60 frames-per-second, just as fast as your iPhone apparently. So successful has the set-up been so far – with Orlando’s screen receiving an average of 5000 touches a day – the next step is already planned. That step is to encircle the Café Solo with speakers, providing a more powerful experience and eliminating pesky environmental noise – after all, this is a music café. 

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Interviews Light Sound Interiors The magazine for venue owners & operators

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Christie MicroTile Something different to add to the digital signage palette.

Technology

Wives, girlfriends and significant others, please take note – two blokes in a bar can come up with an interesting idea. In this case it was Christie’s Bob Rushby and Mike Perkins who were inspired by a single malt to dream up MicroTile. In recent months the Canadian projection specialist has criss-crossed the globe spreading MicroTile cheer to general adulation. Here’s a truly innovative product that will be a real asset to the digital signage market. Dubbed as a ‘digital canvas’ MicroTile is a small LEDbased display, just 408 x 306mm and 260mm deep (giving a diagonal size of 510mm) that is designed to be used in a building-block style of configuration in any shape required. While there’s no reason why large, square screens can’t be constructed (as you’ll see above at the Nascar Hall of Fame in the US), the compact unit specialises in creating vision in areas that otherwise wouldn’t lend themselves to becoming a DOOH display. Unusual locations like the sides of escalators and inside stairwells are common and the slim 1mm gap between units works well for gentle curves in either direction. Sometimes the unique placement of a MicroTile installation has just as much impact as the content being shown. Applications aren’t only restricted to promotions and advertising. Microtiles can be used in command and control centres, in large-scale music or theatre productions and even for aesthetic value in architecture.

VRS (Christie): (07) 3844 9514 or info@vrs.com.au 12

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

High brightness and contrast are features of Microtiles, offering a calibrated output of 800 nits per unit from behind a light-absorbing screen that reduces reflections from external light more efficiently than standard LCD or plasma

screens. The LED light engine is rated at 65,000 hours to half brightness usage, or nearly 7.5 years of continuous operation. Christie also claims MicroTile offers the highest colour palette of any similar device in the industry, emphasising that it’s an important aspect of any promotional content that a client’s product design or company logo colours, which probably cost them a lot of time and money, should always be accurately represented and never compromised by the display medium (think: Coke’s red or Heineken’s green). Designing your MicroTile display either permanently or as a travelling unit is made easier using a software application, Christie MicroTiles Designer. Designer goes further than helping you put pretty pictures in the right or even spectacular order. Given the dimensions of your display ambitions the software will calculate for you how many MicroTiles you need, in what configuration they have to be assembled, plus the total weight and power consumption of the completed array. MicroTiles Designer will be available as a free download from its site and you’ll be able to import any artwork, still images and video into the software (after roughing out your Microtile display) and experiment to your heart’s content before you even have to bother any of the Christie sales folks. Or since Microtiles are now officially in Australia you can ask Christie’s representatives VRS to earn their pay and provide a proper demonstration. Tell ‘em you’ll bring the ice and crystal tumblers. — GH. 

NEC Live & Kicking NEC Live: The right info to the right people.

As the demand for advertising in digital signage grows, so does the demand for stats and metrics: namely, how often did an ad get a run on your screens, at what times, and who was watching?

customers or NEC and used as an on-premise or a hosted solution to reduce cost and complexity for customers. As a managed service, NEC will supply and support the displays and entire network infrastructure

Of all the big multi-national display manufacturers, NEC comprehends the business case of digital signage better than most.

· NEC Live is different to many other digital signage offerings by using minimal bandwidth – a key focus for CIOs cautious about overloading network capacity. It uses technology that transmits only content changes, rather than a complete refresh, saving significant bandwidth.

In The States, NEC has released Vukunet. Weird name, but essentially it’s a system that connects ad buyers with screens. Crucially, you don’t need to have NEC panels to buy into Vukunet, you simply sign on and effectively put your screens up for rent. Vukunet won’t be launched in Australia anytime soon. But much of the NEC’s integrated digital signage solution is available, and it’s called NEC Live. Here’s some of the NEC Live key points, as provided by NEC: · NEC Live provides organisations with greater flexibility and ease to dramatically display compelling digital advertising or information content across their network to display screens at anytime · NEC Live can aggregate information from internal and external sources such as video content, RSS feeds for latest news and weather and internal business applications such as ERP or CRM systems to easily display relevant information · NEC Live is initially targeted at the hospitality, healthcare, education, travel, government and retail environments · The management and delivery platform can be managed by

Technology

Paul Sketchley, Digital Signage Product Manager, NEC said: “Digital signage is being increasingly adopted as an efficient and effective way of delivering targeted information to customers and staff. The challenge is the complexity and additional management headaches that it can bring to organisations to effectively aggregate the right information and deliver it to the right people. NEC Live removes this headache making it easy to bring multiple information flows together and deliver them to displays in multiple locations.” Sketchley cites a good example: The Newcastle Knights’ membership shop, where members queue to buy tickets. The Knights management has used their digital network to provide live up-to-date feeds of seats that are available at the venue. So instead of members sitting in a queue for a period of time, and then spend time at the desk deciding on where they want to sit they can see which seats are available and make the decision once they get to the front desk. The NEC Live system brings in live data – RSS feeds, weather/news – and it can be adapted through out the day. 

NEC: www.nec.com.au Contact Paul Sketchley: (03) 9264 3269 or paul.sketchley@nec.com.au Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Q&A

Q1. Will you be investing in a digital signage hardware/software in 2010/11? Q2. How does digital signage fit into your marketing mix?

Australian business talks to DigitalSignage. Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre Paul Davison, Audio Visual Services Manager Q1: Yes. The centre invested heavily in the launch of digital signage in 2006 and plans to upgrade the system during 2010-11. We’ll be replacing our 150 digital screens with 185 of the latest HD commercial grade screens. Plus we’ll be introducing new software and hardware to increase the screens’ functionality. The investment will make our digital screens an even more attractive proposition for our own marketing purposes and our clients’. Not only do

we offer a large number of screens and a high level of traffic, we’ll now be able to create even more dynamic content opportunities.

Q2: Digital signage is very important to the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and our clients. When we first introduced digital signage, clients were uncertain how to use it, but now they automatically incorporate it in their event marketing plans.

The Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre has led the way in this area for the Australian convention sector and will continue to do so. On top of our state-of-the-art equipment, we also have our own in-house graphic designer for digital media who is focused on making sure the centre and its clients make the most of the digital signage opportunities on offer. The upgrade of our digital signage will make it an even more important part of our marketing mix, increasing the ways it can be used and ensuring our clients have access to the cutting edge of this technology.

Melbourne Olympic Parks Jeff Dowsing, Marketing Coordinator Q1. Yes, we’re entering Phase 2 of a partnership with Cisco Systems. Our Cisco Digital Media Signage Suite (including Digital Media Player and Digital Media Manager) has in the past year included rolling out over 100 LCD displays at merchandising and food outlets for selling/upselling products, advertising coming events, and for emergency messaging, which rapidly provides directional guidance on exiting the premises safely. Over the next year we’ll be further upgrading menu boards and point of sale outlets. This project has formed part of our operations budget (rather than marketing). Q2. Previously digital signage has been limited at our venues, and at a basic level of technology. Digital signage has tended to be the domain of the event promoter/contractors/hirers to bring in as required. With the newly completed AAMI Park, there is certainly more scope to utilise digital signage – for instance the Stadium already has two large remotely controlled exterior pilon signs and a digital advertising fence facing the broadcast side of the field. Furthermore, in the future our Cisco system will enable us to deliver

real-time video to support our event coverage on our digital signage systems. There’s also the foundation to bring digital media closer to the

fan by incorporating specialised content into corporate boxes (eg. offer subscriptions to stadium services, purchase merchandise and pre-order food, allow fans to request information associated with the event). The Cisco Digital Media Suite will also enable us to: Remotely deliver content to digital signage systems from a single point of management.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Include touchscreen ‘way finding’ support for fans.

Manage content assets and create playlists for content well in advance of events. Schedule instant and future content deployments and playback schedules.

So, apart from AAMI Park, digital signage will have a more significant role at our arenas (Rod Laver and Hisense) going forward.

McDonald’s Michael Pires, Advertising & Promotions Manager Q1. Yes, we will continue to invest in digital hardware/software in the coming 18 months, however, over this period digital will account for only a small portion of our marketing spend. Q2. Digital is a relatively new medium for McDonald’s and our long-term strategy is still in development, however, we expect digital

to complement and support traditional elements of our marketing mix in the future.

Auckland Museum Margi Mellsop, Marketing Manager Q1. I doubt whether we will be investing in 2010/11. Q2. As an internal information sharing tool it is becoming more used – combined with more traditional print visitor guides.

NLG Hotel Group Alistair Flower, Group Marketing Manager Q1. We already use digital media, for example Nightlife Music + Video. It’s great, because I can control it centrally across all 36 of the group’s hotels. It’s very cost-effective. And we’re looking at a joint venture with Ultimate Media, to put plasma screens in our bars. They’ll be used to display our cocktail lists, as well as advertise upcoming events. It’s all part of our ambition to move away from paper.

Q2. Going digital it reduces our outlay on printing costs. Also digital systems are now more user-friendly and offer great control, so I can update things in real time.

Perth Airport Amanda Lawson, Marketing Executive Q1. After a highly successful digital signage campaign within our International Terminal in 2009, we will be continuing to install screens in the International Terminal as well as introducing them in to Domestic Terminal 3 as part of our upcoming terminal upgrades. Digital signage has also become an integral part of the overall design of our new purpose-built terminal, Terminal WA, which commences construction in late 2010.

Q2. Digital signage has played an important role within the airport industry for many years; however, it was only recently that Perth Airport invested in this medium from a commercial/retail perspective. Digital signage is now playing a growing role in our marketing mix and we are seeing the benefits of this medium by being able to reach our target markets much more quickly and efficiently.

Q1. Digital signage plays a great role in our marketing mix as it’s an effective communication tool within our premises for delegates to relay messages and provide necessary information.

University of New South Wales Judy Brookman, Director of Communications

Q2. In the future, digital signage could play a more significant role in providing more detailed information about the centre as well as events occurring and upcoming at the centre with both internal and external signage. 

Q1. We are developing a proposal to expand digital signage across the campus next year – more for student communication than for marketing – but it’s still in the planning stage.

Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre Melissa Noble, Marketing Manager

N AV O R I CommandDigitalSignage

Retail:

Use digital signage to provide a blockbuster retail experience.

Story: Chris Seymour

Have you been to the cinema lately? It seems that every other movie is in IMAX or 3D. Whatever the studio, producer or director, these movies were made for the same reason – they are best enjoyed at the cinema.

How do you convince your public to become your audience – to get down to the cinema and part with $20 – when they can download the same product online for free? It all comes down to incentives. You either legally browbeat them into not downloading or you offer them an experience at the cinema that they cannot get at home. In other words, you release movies in IMAX and 3D.

High street retailers face a similar problem – losing revenue to the online world. Unlike the movie studios and cinemas, they’re not fighting somebody that is giving away the product for free but there is still a lesson here: if you want people to get off their couch and go to your store then you need to offer them something special – an experience they can’t get over the internet. We’re talking about the retail equivalent of an IMAX 3D blockbuster spectacular. If you’re a high street store, you have three tricks up your sleeve the online retailers can’t yet duplicate – touch, smell and taste. If your product needs one of these to sell then that’s good news – for the moment. But if you’re competing against online retailers, how can technology help you gain an edge? I’ll classify retail technology into two areas – aimed at increasing either efficiency or revenue.

Using technology to increase efficiency in a retail environment is

well understood. POS systems, self-service checkouts and wireless inventory systems reduce the time and cost taken to serve each customer. Retail banking has made similar advances with improved queue management, smarter ATMs and machines that will accept every last coin from your piggybank. When it comes to using technology to increase revenue, the online retailers are king. It’s now a science of sorts – if you do X then your sales will increase by Y. Efficiency for these guys is more about order fulfilment and less about customer interactions – unless there’s a customer complaint or a complex request.

So can high street retailers learn anything from their online counterparts? Can technology in the store be used to increase revenue in the store, and not just increase efficiency? The first step to increasing revenue is getting more potential buyers into your store. Integrating digital signage with your high street window allows you to get creative with your messaging – updating instantaneously and automatically. Could your business benefit from time-sensitive advertising with lunchtime deals? Or weathersensitive advertising that offers specials on umbrellas, magically appearing whenever it starts to rain? Customers will then step inside and reach a second level of digital signage working in tandem with your window display – showing exactly where those umbrellas are hiding and why they should warm up with a hot chocolate on the way out.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Touch computing has made huge advances in recent years, far beyond in-store navigation. It provides a great way for custom-

ers to explore non-tangible products (holidays, personal loans), to configure complex products (cars, kitchens) or to explore a product range they might not have immediate access to (clothing in another department of a large store, or high-end jewellery kept behind toughened glass). Thanks to the use of touch in your store

window, you can be open when you’re actually closed.

Estate agents have started to use this to great effect, allowing passers-by to view their catalogue 24 hours a day.

Beyond touch, there are an increasing number of vision-based solutions that use cameras to track customers through your store. When a customer views an offer on your digital signage, how do they react? Are they male or female? How is store traffic affected by specific offers on your external-facing digital signage? Digital signage, touch-computing and vision-based computing provide new ways to drive people to your store but they also provide new ways to capture information about your customers – so that you can understand them better, sooner. Whenever customers interact with a computer in your store, you can track this interaction. Armed with mobile devices, your salespeople can be immediately alerted to specific customer actions and overall customer trends. Anytime, any place.

So how do you offer your customers an experience they cannot get at home? You do this by using the most valuable resource in your stores: your salespeople. Educate and arm them with a full understanding of what your customers are doing in-store at any given time. Digital signage solutions allow you to increase customer traffic and conversion, while touch- and vision-based solutions also allow you to increase your customer knowledge. Used together, you have a powerful set of tools, with the ability to delight your customers – and your bank manager.  Chris Seymour is the Connected Experience Solution Lead at Object Consulting, where he advises clients on using new technology to connect with their customers. Follow him on Twitter at @SeymourV.

From clutter to killer – create content that moves people.

Creative:

Story: Caroline Ghatt

As such, be sure you define the following before you start any content development. Where does digital signage integrate into my total marketing activity?

Digital has well and truly become the ‘new black’ for a growing number of retailers and brands. It’s easy to see why. Not only does it come in a massive range of styles and options, it can stand alone or work in with other ‘pieces’. As brands seek to expand their various marketing wardrobes, digital signage is one item that more are trying on for size. Digital signage typically comes in two styles – third party controlled (OOH – Out Of Home) or retailer owned and managed (in-store digital merchandising). The difference between them primarily comes down to control and delivery of content.

For the first, content is controlled and delivered by a third party with paid-for touchpoints anchored in OOH locations such as shopping malls. The second is proprietary content that is developed, controlled and delivered inside the retail brand’s store.

Whichever approach you’re looking to take, the central challenge is the same: creating killer content that will move a positive shopper response. Remember that deciding you want to deploy digital signage is the easy part. Doing it properly is what takes planning. Poor content

drives shoppers away because it’s either irrelevant (resulting in ‘tune out’) or it interruptive (resulting in ‘walk out’).

Typically, you’ll have three to seven seconds to make a connection using any type of digital signage. This may be slightly less in a grocery channel but possibly slightly more in a QSR environment. If your digital signage is OOH then these dynamics will shift again. The DNA of killer content is three-fold: • Is it relevant (emotionally engaging)?

• Is it relative (proximity to where purchase occurs)? • Does it drive a response (call to action)?

If you can answer yes to the ‘three Rs’ then you’re on the right track. However, the story doesn’t start and stop here. Killer content development is a strategic process that begins long before you decide what messages you’re putting on the screen.

To be most effective, digital signage must be holistically integrated and managed with all other communication touchpoints. Think carefully about what you want digital signage to achieve and then establish your success measures and objectives. For instance, you may want it to drive more traffic into your store from the outside or drive traffic to specific locations within your store. Perhaps it’s to improve awareness of a particular brand, service offering or product, or encourage up-sale once inside. Whatever the objective, be sure to clarify it from the beginning and include it within the overarching aims of your campaign. If you’re looking at establishing a proprietary digital network then it’s critical not to allow technology to dictate your content. Be sure that

any hardware decisions are made to fit your marketing aims (not the other way around). Technology should be the servant

(not the master). Further to this, technology should fit into your store environment and contribute positively to the shopping experience within specifically defined zones. Who are my shoppers? And what do I want them to do?

This sounds like an obvious question but it’s critical to establish if you want to effect behavioural change at every screen opportunity. Ensure you have a solid grasp on who you’re engaging – their key need states, trip types and how they use the store environment. Be sure to relate this back to screen locations – particularly if they are outside your stores. It is critical that you know what you’re asking specific shopper audiences to ‘do’ as a result of seeing your digital content (remember the three ‘Rs’!) What does success look like? Put it into a brief.

It’s important to lock your thinking into a simple, clear digital brief so that everyone involved knows what the key objectives and success measures are. The brief needs to include considerations such as the retail environment, key messaging, sequencing, scheduling and integration. Effective digital content moves positive shopper behaviour through being relevant, relative and driving an active response. Remember that killer content starts with thorough planning, so ensure you identify ‘Where, Who and What’ before you start any messaging development. Follow these simple rules and you’ll be sure to make digital signage a killer addition to your marketing wardrobe.  Caroline Ghatt is Planning Director at phdcreative, a brand and design agency passionate about retail. Go: www.phdcreative.com.au

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

The Back End:

The digital signage ‘industry’ needs to grow up.

Story: Lou Giacalone

I’m honoured to be invited to write a column for the premier issue of DigitalSignage. I’m always glad to contribute my point of view on our ‘industry’, and, as one of the pioneers, I feel a sense of responsibility to share what I’ve learned. It’s fantastic to see more and more outlets, like this one, emerging to spread the word about what I’m confident is the next big medium. Networked displays of various shapes sizes and flavours will inevitably replace the vast majority of printed signage (paper, cardboard, vinyl, etc.) and marketing pieces in the world at large – that much I am certain of.

The fact is, there’s so much work to be done to educate the world about the truth of what digital signage can and can’t do, and where things really stand as an ‘industry’. You might wonder why I keep putting quotes around the word industry. Well, frankly, there is no digital signage industry today. No really, walk outside and ask just about anyone their opinion of the digital signage industry and then wait… and wait some more. Don’t get me wrong – I’m completely bullish. The problem is my enthusiasm has been blunted by pushing the digital signage ball uphill for 12 years now. How do we change this? By working together. Manufacturers, resellers, integrators, consultants, customers, educators, media – everybody.

Today’s deployments are largely hand-crafted custom solutions based around proprietary vendor technologies. Are you aware of any other multi-billion dollar industries that operate like that? I’m not. We need to grow up. We need to share our experiences, especially the failures, and not keep them secret. Play together – no one company can get this market across the chasm. Take risks – like building products appropriate for the market, not repurposing stuff made for other existing markets. Perhaps the biggest risk of all that needs to be taken is by the vendor community. What risk am I speaking of ? That of breaking one of the first principles of sales – namely, that the customer is always right. The

fact is, with respect to digital signage today, the customer is almost always wrong. Thanks to 20/20 hindsight I can share with you how this plays out:

• Customer sees or hears about some digital signage, often poorly executed • They make some assumptions about how to apply it in their business • Some or all of their ideas are misguided

• Vendor is either insufficiently educated on best practices and/or doesn’t want to challenge a customer and risk losing deal – doubly so in this tough economy

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

• Vendor sells customer what they want anyway • Program underperforms or fails

• Management subsequently discounts digital signage as a medium • Competitors and others keeping an eye on the program, note the failure, and also discount effectiveness of digital signage • The company and their competitors decide to wait a few years until things are ‘ready for prime-time’ • Management turns over, lessons learned are lost • Go back to Step 1 and repeat

We must break this cycle. The key, as I see it, is education. And this why I’m writing this piece. I wish I had a simple recipe for everyone to follow, but there isn’t one. Digital signage is hard – do not underestimate it. You need to have expertise in computers, networking, AV gear, content creation, visual design, field deployment and maintenance, IT system integration – and those are just for starters.

The good news is that we’re beginning to see strong efforts to coalesce everyone’s discrete efforts into the core of an industry. Here in the US, the Digital Screenmedia Association (DSA) www. digitalscreenmedia.org is actively working towards developing industry education and certification programs. Another key objective of the DSA is outreach into key industries that are target markets for digital signage. I’m proud to be on the board and participate in moving these initiatives forward, alongside many other key leaders in this space.

Technical standards are also being advanced. This is critical, since almost every major movement in technology has a foundation supported by multi-vendor interoperability standards. It’s the only way an industry can grow and a customer can buy products with confidence – knowing they have options should one vendor or component fail. Several of the major technology companies in digital signage are participating in developing standards with a group working under the auspices of POPAI (The Global Association for Marketing at Retail). More information about these activities can be found at www.popai.com/community/digital-signage.html. There’s such great promise for our industry, and so many talented, passionate people involved. With the world’s financial woes finally waning and all the various technology components whittled down in cost, 2011 might just turn out to be the year of digital signage. Okay, maybe I’ve been saying that since 2000… but my prediction has got to be correct one of these years, right?! 

Lou Giacalone is a pioneer and expert in digital signage. In 1998, he conceived the acclaimed CoolSign software suite and also founded AdSpace Networks, now the world’s largest digital mall advertising company.

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JUST THE TICKET The Sydney Opera House has partnered with Sony to change the way it reaches its patrons of the arts. Story: Graeme Hague

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

“SOH marketing has really embraced, the ability to target different areas and even individual screens all within the same network with customised content”

he Sydney Opera House doesn’t have a problem drawing a crowd. It’s an iconic, internationally-recognised performing arts centre that attracts nearly eight million visitors a year, many of them tourists who tick that box like they would cuddling a koala. Sydney’s inhabitants love their opera house, too. On any evening the complex’s waterside cafés and bars always attract a crowd. On a Friday night they’re practically spilling into the harbour. All in all, you’d be forgiven for believing that selling tickets to shows doesn’t need much more than a few beer-soaked flyers under the ashtrays and maybe some posters on the light poles. The truth is, the opera house operates a carefully designed and managed marketing strategy to properly take advantage of this amount of traffic. Nothing can be taken for granted. The demography couldn’t be wider, ranging from thrifty backpackers on their last razoo to billionaires dropping anchor in Darling Harbour for a weekend of fine art, wine and music. And because it is the Sydney Opera House, both the backpackers and the billionaires expect to be teased, tempted or at the very least well-informed by the signage and information on display. You don’t get to make excuses when you’re a world-class premier attraction. For the record, the marketing folks for the opera house are given a $10m annual budget to get it right –that’s just for marketing, although it should be pointed out that the $10m needs to stretch across all the various media SOH use, such as radio, television and print. Having a large target audience is a good thing, but it costs extra to reach them all. To help things along, for the past year SOH has had a new marketing weapon in the never-ending ambition of maximising ticket sales. NEW FOYER, NEW HORIZONS

In April 2009 Sony signed up with the Sydney Opera House to become a Major Partner and the exclusive technology partner. Putting their heads together everyone analysed and identified key areas where Sony’s expertise could best be put to use and, while there was plenty of scope throughout the complex since – after all, modern performing arts often relies heavily on technology – the immediate focus was on the acquisition and installation of a digital signage system.

The thinking was somewhat influenced by the opening of the new Western Foyer and how that area needed to be addressed by the marketing department. For many years the SOH has used very large, printed posters to promote current productions, but maintaining the print status quo for a new, exciting space didn’t make sense. The time had come to move towards an on-site advertising medium that was more dynamic and modern.

On paper (or rather, not) the move to digital signage wasn’t such a big leap for the SOH to take. It already had a Digital Marketing Department that had lifted its website information, promotions and ticketing business to one of the busiest around and many of the multimedia and creative skills needed for authoring effective digital signage were already in-house. With a bit of luck, in some ways it was only a matter of shuffling a few desks around, getting some cross-training from Sony and the new signage screens should be ready to go. INNOVATIVE APPROACH

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that easy. At the same time SOH is all too aware that the rapid evolution of digital content is changing marketing strategies fast and there was more to think about than simply educating its staff with a new way of presenting the same software-generated material. Digital signage was going to offer some innovative approaches.

At the heart of Sony’s digital signage offering is Ziris and like many applications of its ilk it currently has two levels of software management (more are in development) that draw a line between the creative and distribution/ scheduling sides of digital signage. Ziris Create is where the content is authorised and scheduled before being distributed over the network. Ziris Manage is where the hardware is monitored and controlled. The versatility of the Manage application allowed Sony to suggest to SOH a variety of displays. For example, there are some locations in the complex where the important information needs to be little more than plain text. It might be something as innocuous as a meal menu or a performance start time that needs emphasis – such as, no latecomers will be allowed in. Either way, standard definition screens will do the trick. At the other end of the scale the eight new 52-inch screens spread along the tunnel connected to the Western Foyer are all high definition and receive separate feeds of unique content. That is one aspect of Ziris that SOH marketing has really embraced, the ability to target different areas and even individual screens all within the same network with customised content. Ziris can broadcast

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

on as many channels as you want restricted only by the connected hardware.

The SOH’s marketing department’s biggest challenge remains. It’s called the “on-site conversion strategy”, and the simple explanation is it’s about convincing passing foot traffic and curious tourists – aka the punters – to buy tickets to a production they didn’t originally intend to see. To be fair, most people who come to see the Sydney Opera House are open to the suggestion. They may simply need to be guided rather than coerced. However, a lot of those eight million visitors still have to be lured through the actual auditorium doors and into a seat. The exercise isn’t about tricking people out of their hard-earned cash, but getting the best result out of what can be a fleeting opportunity to engage the viewer’s attention and holding it long enough to sell the message – to sell the show. Passing foot traffic needs to be stopped in its tracks, impressed by what they see and told how to buy a ticket. DIGITAL: JUST THE TICKET

Some of the advantages of digital signage are obvious. Bright, compelling and moving images can be used and the screens can display as much content as the marketing department sees fit; definitely a far cry from the oversized posters of old. Taking things further, using Ziris, SOH has divided the Opera House complex into different areas of focus, applied at different times. A good example is those office workers who regularly frequent the cafes on a Friday night. Predominantly young and hip, this is an audience who will be more attracted to contemporary productions like rock concerts, comedy festivals and such. Nearby digital signage can be scheduled to display those sorts of shows. Meanwhile, a very different kind of message can be shown elsewhere – or everywhere for that matter. The SOH Digital Marketing Department has really embraced the concept that creating great content with all the digital software available is still only half the job done. A careful schedule of what to broadcast where and when is also tremendously important. SOUND-FREE

Not much has been mentioned about audio, often an integral part of digital signage. This is because Sony and SOH decided early that while a diverse broadcast of imagery was the way to go, accompanying it with audio was only going to cause problems. By manipulating fields of vision and being smart about screen choice and placement, it’s relatively easy to make sure a viewer’s attention isn’t conflicted by watching more than one display at a time. Audio isn’t quite so accommodating and the system designers kept speakers to a minimum and avoided making cacophonies of sound generated by overlapping displays.

Of course, the digital signage system does incorporate audio in some areas, especially where it’s required to integrate into some of the existing technology such as the show relay and general public announcements. Also, compatibility with emergency messaging and fire alarm systems had to be included. Again, this is where the versatility of the Ziris system comes into play letting some sections of the network perform the more day-to-day tasks of a performing arts centre without interfering with the digital signage promotions being run elsewhere. NOW SCREENING

“The exercise isn’t about tricking people out of their hard-earned cash, but getting the best result out of what can be a fleeting opportunity to engage the viewer’s attention”

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

In addition to the eight screens in the tunnel, another 15 x 42 inch LCD displays were installed in the Western Foyer itself, another three in the Southern Foyer and two more in the Lower Concourse. Other screens not necessarily concerned with the digital signage content, but still connected, were put at the Stage Door and in the Boardroom. The Utzon Room, which is a smaller space used for conferences and intimate performances, was provided with a Sony VPLFH300L 6000-lumen projector that currently isn’t a part of the Ziris network, but plans are in place to remedy that. The Sydney Opera House is a fascinating case study of the emerging digital signage industry in Australia. It’s probably one of the largest, self-contained, self-maintained installations in the country today. Added to this is the way SOH is using it savvily with precise scheduling of varying material into different areas – and with individual feeds to screens in those areas. It’s too early to tell if the digital signage system has had an impact on sales, but it’s hard to imagine otherwise. No doubt a lot of people in advertising, promotions and marketing will be keeping a close watch. With the solid Sony partnership in place, tweaking and refining the system at SOH as the technology ever-improves, we’ll be keeping an eye on it, too. 

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THAT’S

ENTERTAINMENT! Adelaide Entertainment Centre’s $52m facelift packs a super-smart signage solution. Story: Graeme Hague

he Adelaide Entertainment Centre was originally opened in 1991 and faithfully served the Adelaide community to the point of reaching a record-breaking 378,000 patrons through its doors in 2008. At that time it was announced that a $52m facelift was commissioned with the intention of taking the AEC at least another 30 years into the 21st century. Part of the refit involved an unprecedented level of digital content distribution. Exciting stuff !

Now in 2010 the job’s done – and it’s safe to say it’s come up pretty darned well. For a start, the interior of the complex has a wealth of new digital signage (79 Samsung screens in total), focused mostly on marketing and promotions but of course some displays are dedicated to more functional tasks like show relay and bar or café information. Outside, on the front façade things get impressive, too. A massive new electronic sign has been installed measuring a whopping 67 metres long and 2.4 metres high. It was at the time of completion – and probably still is – the largest sign of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Not surprisingly the comprehensive internal digital signage and the monster LED array are the kind of big-budget contracts that pique our curiosity. However, when I started digging around for the background story an unexpected fact about the projects came to light. Both systems had been developed, designed and installed by Harvey Norman Commercial.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

SEAMLESS DISPLAY The showcase of the interior digital signage system is an array of 16 Samsung 46-inch UT displays – the UT model having the thinner bezels that create an almost seamless look. Otherwise most of the digital signage in the foyers and thoroughfares is displayed in banks of three Samsung UXN screens with each producing 1920 x 1080 pictures. The effect is achieved thanks to Matrox Quad Output cards in the main PC. Exceptions are 65-inch Panasonic plasmas installed in the kiosk area – let’s not have any misunderstandings about the beer prices shall we? Data signals to the entire digital signage network is achieved with a Magenta Research infrastructure that uses UTP cabling terminating with one of Magenta’s own baluns at each screen. A Crestron system is used to distribute the digital signal across the network. Content is created in Adobe Flash or Photoshop, with Flash getting the nod most of the time (for both the internal signage and the large LED display). It’s then fed into a Navori Server Digital Signage System for distribution and scheduling across all the screens in the centre as required – again including material destined for the front of the building. That impressive outdoor LED array chewed up around half of the $4m budget. It’s made up of 126 Ledavision P10 panels which were custom-built to 1600mm x 800mm each (normally they’re 1280mm x 960mm) and assembled in a grid of 42 panels long and three panels deep. From there, the panels were segregated into four sections. The entire sign has its own video processing and again a Crestron control system with a thermostat installed for each of the four parts. Temperature control is a crucial element to the sign’s performance and maintenance

Shop Stop: Banks of three hi-def Samsung UXN screens take care of the digital signage in the foyers and thoroughfares. The content is created in Adobe Flash or Photoshop. It’s then fed into a Navori Server Digital Signage System for distribution and scheduling across all the screens in the centre. The three-screen effect is achieved thanks to Matrox Quad Output cards in the main PC. The video goes from the PC to the screens via a Magenta Research video-over-Cat5 system.

and with Adelaide capable of weather extremes it was more than a simple fail-safe function. The physical installation of the modules required a custom protective flashing, designed to improve air flow for cooling. The thermostat data was linked and is compared with the AEC’s building management system as a kind of double-check of the conditions. Temperature readings are also used to configure the brightness of the sign with an obvious correlation being made with heat equating to daytime and sunlight – although in Adelaide you never know. The sign’s brightness caused the only real problem of the entire project. The Adelaide City Council soon requested that the output be dialled down to around 20% at night, otherwise the nearby automatic streetlights got confused and wouldn’t switch on. Data to the signage is sent via a Crestron Digital Media 8 x 8 DVI matrix to four fibre optic send and receive processors providing 24-bit HD colour. In the main ‘comms’ room four 21-inch preview screens let programmers ensure no unfortunate errors are displayed in all its 67m-wide splendour.

“The Adelaide City Council soon requested that the output be dialled down to around 20% at night, otherwise the nearby automatic streetlights got confused and wouldn’t switch on”

SMART, CENTRALISED & INTEGRATED

Which finally brings us to the only understated aspect of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre’s new digital signage. We’re already starting to take these kinds of things for granted, but the strength of this system is the successful management (from a single point) of displays varying from something the size of three buses lined up end-to-end to a small video screen telling you the price of the popcorn. It’s all thanks to the professional, technical contribution from Matt Vawser’s team at Harvey Norman Commercial and no doubt the crews at Samsung and Hills SVL helped out, too. It’s a great example of a digital signage network working solidly in the background, providing up-to-date information inside, while it’s also lighting up the streets outside.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

INFO Adelaide Entertainment Centre: www.theaec.net Samsung: www.samsunglfd.com Command Digital Signage (Navori): 1300 780 204 or www.commandaustralia.com.au New Magic (Matrox): (03) 9722 9700 or www.newmagic.com.au IDT (Magenta): 1300 666 099 or www.idt.com.au Crestron: www.crestron.com.au

Big Welcome: A bank of 16 x Samsung 46-inch UT Series displays provide a big splash. The UT models were selected for their ultra-thin bezel, providing a seamless big-screen impact.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

GO HARVEY Most people will associate the name Harvey Norman only with the giant white goods and electronics retailer. Hearing of the existence of its Harvey Norman Commercial (HNC) division usually raises a few eyebrows, before it’s assumed that HNC is some kind of bulk-buy organisation for the trade industries to take advantage of Harvey Norman’s considerable buying power – and they’d be almost right. Harvey Norman Commercial has branches in all the states of Australia except Tasmania and in the words of Matt Vawser, Franchisee of the South Australian HNC, these are ‘box moving entities’. While all the best expertise and customer service is always provided, HNC is still basically a sales outlet. The staff will stand at the door and cheerfully wave you goodbye as you drive away with a truck filled with goodies. Except in Adelaide where things are different. Matt Vawser is a qualified network engineer with a long background in installing integrated systems using C-Bus, Crestron and AMX equipment to name but a few. He had a vision for HNC in South Australia to become a leading supplier of control networks and take the Harvey Norman Commercial business he provided beyond just supplying pallet-loads of televisions at a time. Matt decided to combine his engineering talents with the HNC brand and with the blessing off the Harvey Norman management was encouraged to give it a go. He started off in the tough sector of servicing system networks in the pubs and clubs of Adelaide and over several years earned a solid reputation. So it was no fluke that HNC Adelaide made a successful bid to supply and install over $4m worth of audio visual and digital signage as part of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre refit.  Harvey Norman Commercial: (08) 8150 8000 or www.harveynormancommercial.com.au

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

AIR TIME Sydney Airport has invested heavily in a multi-pronged digital signage solution. Story: Christopher Holder

s there a more apposite venue for screens than an airport? I hardly think so. Whether you’re coming or going, meeting or scarpering, the first thing you do upon entering an airport is look for a screen.

But gone are the days of airport screens existing solely to inform, there are other fish to fry. Internationally, airports are investing heavily in digital signage, reflecting airports’ growing retail role. That’s right, airports are becoming more and more like shopping malls (with plenty of room to park your A380), especially in the international terminals where duty-free ‘luxe’ shopping is flourishing. The reasons are obvious: international passengers are by necessity affluent, they have no choice but to have time on their hands, and depending on whether they’re coming or going they’re often ‘off the leash’ or frantically finding a gift for family. It’s a heady cocktail of factors that produce the perfect retail storm. So it’s no wonder that advertisers can’t wait to get their hands on the transit lounge crowd.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

EMBARK WITH BITE Sydney Airport is loudly and proudly Australia’s premier airport. Last year its international terminal handled 8.3 million passengers, which is around 45% of all Australia’s international travellers. With those eye-popping numbers you can begin to understand why the $500m investment in the international terminal over the last three years seems entirely appropriate. The $500m encompasses a much expanded departures level (with 7300sqm of extra space) a new flash set for Channel 7’s Border Security (ahem, of course I mean “a new security screening area to undertake essential aviation security measures”) as well as a new shopping Forum to provide more waiting areas and food, beverage and retail outlets for passengers (after customs) including a huge duty free store you could get lost in for days. Needless to say there are plenty of other improvements to the airport amenity that many readers will be aware of and appreciate. Digital signage is a key part of the upgrade, with Sydney Airport Corporation Limited’s (SACL) Martin Salter talking us through

the finer points of the fitout. Martin’s title is Manager Advertising & New Media and has presided over some cutting-edge deployment of what SACL is calling ‘new media’. There are three new external sites (digital billboards), which anyone driving in and around the airport couldn’t help but notice. But the major work is indoors, including plenty of LED, LCD and a Captive Area Network (CAN). The CAN is particularly interesting. It operates in a similar way to an internal TV network, ‘broadcasting’ a mix of advertising, operational and corporate messaging. The CAN is for areas where people have time on their hands – areas of dwell – and lends itself to being shown on a good number of smaller format, networked 46- and 42-inch LCDs. CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

I kicked off my conversation with Martin Salter by asking him more about the CAN: Martin Salter: CAN was a specific strategy we had for the

development of the digital signage in Terminal 1. The Captive Network was positioned so we could create a frequency of mes-

sage as the passengers conducted their journey throughout the terminal. As the International Terminal caters to new customers every day, the challenge was to develop a network which could assist clients [CAN advertisers] to communicate their branded message over a number of times to the same person, i.e. maximise frequency and exposure. We have achieved this with the installation of small digital formats in key customer touch points throughout the terminal i.e. check-in, customs, flight information screens, and departure gates. This allows a client to have a departures and arrivals digital strategy in the same format while improving the overall impact of the campaign.

DS: Right, so there’s a journey that the signage is taking with the

traveller. Very different to the high traffic multi-screen displays.

MS: That’s right. In arrivals and departures we’ve used large-

format screens made up of LED and LCD displays. These are designed to be multifunctional, including high-impact digital displays that create much movement and impact to passengers in

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

“Unlike a major shopping centre where they could have traffic of up to 200,000 people per month … the International Terminal has up to 1 million new customers every month” high traffic areas, while also being able to give category sponsors such as Emirates the opportunity to develop ‘Branded Live Sites’ for major events such as the World Cup and add ownership to specific areas for retail experiential zones. DS: Okay, so these Branded Live Sites, how big are the screens? MS: They’re 4 x 4 panels.

FREE TO AIR?

DS: You describe the CAN as being like an in-house TV channel, as it

were. What other content are we talking about other than advertising?

MS: Depends. We developed the network to target passengers in spe-

cific zones. And again, these zones have been created based on dwell time. The shorter the dwell (i.e. under five minutes) the screens are 100% advertising. If the dwell areas are higher, we have incorporated non-branded content, such as partnering with the ABC for live news feeds and the advertising component is higher.

DS: How has the digital signage altered the way in which you inform

and market to patrons?

MS: A major benefit of developing this network has been “impact and

engagement focused” which has allowed us to reduce the floor clutter in and around the terminal. Since the implementation of the digital network, our marketing team has reviewed the way we communicate offers from our retailers to the customers. As the retail department has time allocated on the network, this allows them to communicate dynamic retail offers on the screens in more places and in a more dynamic way.

DS: What measurable differences has the digital signage made?

MS: It’s generated new advertisers ad categories to the International

terminal. In addition we have greater rotations and more flexibility with advertisers and brands, with both call to action and brand statements working together. Our communication terminal-wide has also improved; we have worked with AQIS [the quarantine service] over the past year to develop much improved content, incorporating multilingual messaging about the importance of quarantine and declaring goods.

DS: Right, the ‘Hey, you with the salami in the handbag’ messages.

Do you imagine the digital signage novelty will wear off quickly? If so, how can signs be kept fresh?

MS: Unlike a major shopping centre where they could have traffic

of up to 200,000 people per month coming to the centre on average two times per week, the International Terminal has up to one million new customers every month. It is due to this we do not expect there to be an issue of the network becoming stale. In saying this we understand it is vitally important to keep developing the relevancy of the content to assist the length of time customers view the screens, and thus help drive the commercialisation.

We are currently undertaking phase two of the CAN project whereby we will integrate our flight information systems with the Captive network. This integration will mean we will be able to schedule nonbranded content and advertising content to be relevant to the passengers’ destination.

DS: How much of the content is generated in-house?

MS: We develop 25% of content in-house. The majority of Sydney

Airport stakeholders have signage on the CAN.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

FEED ME RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a format for delivering regularly changing content via the web. Many news sites, blogs and other online publishers make their content available via an RSS feed as well as via a web browser. For digital signage they’re a no-brainer, it keeps your content dynamic without having to lift a finger. Most content creation software will allow you to add a ‘crawl’ to your template (where an RSS can crawl across the screen). Most RSS feeds are free. news.com.au News: Nothing limited about News Limited, there’s an abundance of RSS feeds from around the world to choose from. Everything from federal politics to ‘Weird True Freaky’. asx.com.au Money: Financial info on tap. Everything from standard stock prices to video of ASX expert interviews. weatherzone.com.au Weather: Show me someone who’s not interested in weather and I’ll show you a corpse. foxsports.com.au/rss Sport: Get sport-specific feeds or breaking news. Guaranteed crowd pleaser.

Kitted Out: The Forum is the centrepiece of SACL’s $500m redevelopment of the International Terminal. The approach to digital signage is ‘a little goes a long way’. Branded messages are reinforced at key dwell areas like departure boards.

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

DEFINING YOUR RULES DS: How did you go about specifying the system? What at-

tracted you to the set-up and the suppliers you have?

MS: We defined the rules of the network in advance and

found a group of companies to help drive this solution, obviously through the tender. Price was an important consideration but we needed to make sure they could deliver the network requirements.

DS: What key attributes of your requirements dictated the

sophistication of the system?

MS: The key requirements were: flexible scheduling, being able

to run portrait-mode screens, synchronisation, integration with FIDS [flight information display systems], multilingual capabilities, dynamic RSS feeds, and zoning. TAKE IT OUTSIDE

DS: Tell me some more about the outdoor screens.

MS: The external sites at Terminal 2 generate revenues through

key categories such as Automotive, Banking Finance and Airlines.

The ‘Departures Drop off and Gantry on Shiers Ave signs’ were selected by SACL and APN Outdoor to upgrade into ‘LED Iconic Media Locations’. This was because we had a demand to develop sites for arriving and departing passengers in the same format. As static sites, both locations were providing a decent occupancy, however we were limited to the creative flexibility these sites could provide. Clients are now able to change artwork when they like thus improving the flexibility of the sign and ease of use for the client. The Domestic terminals do have a much higher frequency of passenger, thus the combined traffic numbers of T2 & T3 are approximately 23 million.

Now that we’ve changed these sites to digital we have increased our incremental revenues and are thus meeting our expectations. RETAIL HEAVEN

DS: I mentioned in my intro how digital signage and airports

go together like the proverbial horse and carriage. Is that how you’re seeing it?

MS: Inherently it is the best place for brands and services to en-

gage. Dwell time is significant, minds are open and the audience has the means and is generally A/B demographic – a fertile playground for brands to engage directly with the audience. Like I mentioned earlier, it differs to the shopping centre malls with a far greater reach with less frequency.

DS: Hence the big investment: digital signage ticks all the

marketing boxes?

MS: Sure. It is the new medium with fast turnaround and speed

to market, flexibility of message, dynamic visuals and generally greater revenue potential. 

Just the Tonic: SACL’s captive area network (CAN) is a network of LCD panels that allows advertisers to reach passengers several times on their journey from check-in to take-off. The CAN will display an ad-only feed at times and incorporate non-branded content like ABC live news in dwell areas.

BEHIND THE SCREENS TechMedia is the Australian support and distribution office for global digital signage specialists Scala, and consulted with Sydney Airport Corporation Limited to develop a versatile platform plan to allow central management of a wide array of different media types and digital campaigns and integration with a number of different live data and content sources. The network of screens is diverse, featuring outdoor and indoor LED, portrait, landscape and video wall LCD, down to multiple zones of media on some single displays. With such a diverse range of display technology in a single network, it was imperative SACL deployed a highly flexible connected signage platform like Scala. For the international terminal, TechMedia deployed a number of Scala products and TechMedia developed integrations. Some of the highlights of the network are the ability to synchronise scheduled content and advertising slots across a number of separate groups of displays or zones of a display. In an environment where a number of screens are visible at once, this provides an elevated level of impact for the advertiser. The synchronisation also provides a clean, uniform feel for the network of screens helping them gain more focus in the environment. Many of the key screen installations feature a Scala player capable of integration with live pay or free-toair TV. The live feed can be used full screen or in a window, perfect for special promotions or significant events like the World Cup and Commonwealth games. TechMedia: (02) 9526 7880 or www.techmedia.com.au

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Sydney Airport The Sydney Opera House Adelaide Entertainment Centre

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MIAMI TURNS UP HEAT

YOU’RE GONNA NEED A BIGGER WALL

The Miami Heat NBA team has turned up the heat this season, with superstars LeBron James and Chris Bosh joining Dwayne Wade on the roster. The Heat calls the American Airlines Arena home which has sought to bring the arena’s flat panel displays up to cutting-edge hi-def standards. The challenge was finding a signal delivery solution to ensure the transmission of hi-def 1080p content without degradation to various displays located at substantial distances from the control room. The Heat updated their signage system through their partnerships with Sony Systems and Magenta Research. The new equipment includes Sony’s Ziris software and displays, which provide content to resolutions beyond 1080p, as well as searing images for large video wall installations. An integral part of the total solution was Magenta Research’s MultiView Series transmitters and receivers, MultiView XRTx and AK600. Magenta Research’s MultiView Series hi-def video extension technology enables hi-def audiovisual signals to travel distances of 2000 feet over Cat5 (UTP) without degradation of quality or introduction of delay.

They probably drew short straws at Panasonic to decide this one. It can’t have been fun announcing at Infocomm the release of two new HD LCD displays at 42-inch and 47inch respectively, when your drinking buddies on the other end of the desk get to tell the world of three monster-sized 3D plasma screens of 85-inch, 103-inch and a whopping 152-inch (3860mm). The LCD displays are designed for bright venues and public areas, while the large-format 3D plasmas are good for… well, hell – we’ll be hooking one up for the footy. Seriously, the 3D image is expected to cater for commercial applications such as large CAD drawings, customised promotional displays like car showrooms, educational facilities, healthcare centres and of course digital signage. No one’s expecting to screw one of these to the lounge room wall just yet although Panasonic list home theatres as a potential use. Regardless, you’ll have to wait until January 2011. Panasonic Australia: 132 600 or www.panasonic.com.au

IDT (Magenta): 1300 666 099 or www.idt.com.au Sony: (02) 9887 6666 or www.sony.com.au

Australia’s digital signage systems market is expected to grow at a steady compound rate of more than 12 percent

VOILA!: No, autostereoscopic 3D isn’t that weird sex thing that saw the end of Michael Hutchence. French company Alioscopy have developed a system of micro tubes called lenticular lenses that lay across the pixels of a full HD LCD display. Remembering that a pixel is comprised of three sub-pixels (red, green and blue) each lens covers eight sub-pixels within a tolerance of 1/100th of a micron – yes, that’s small. Still, the tiny differences derived from the thickness of the tubes, the fact they’re curved and the separation of primary colours is enough to create a perception of depth that becomes a 3D image without the need for wearing glasses.

NEWS:

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It’s like the LCD screen wears them instead. Alioscopy: www.alioscopy.com GEFEN GET CREATIVE: In a strategic move that places Gefen on the content development side of digital signage, it unveiled the Digital Signage Creator. The Digital Signage Creator offers ‘unlimited’ opportunities for developing video, audio, static image and data files in open standards format that can be easily managed by DS systems. It comes with its own Digital Signage Director software complete with a sample library of content templates created by Gefen or users can opt to create their own. Approximately

2GB of space on the hard drive can be supplemented by using remote web server pages and the USB hard drive. For locations with power but no connectivity, the USB port can operate using 3G wireless networks to receive and play content continuously. The USB port can also accommodate touchscreens for kiosk displays. Amber Technology: 1800 251367 or www.ambertech.com.au JVC’s BIGGEST LOSER: JVC’s 32-inch LCD screens have been on a serious diet and slimmed down to just 5kg and a mere 7mm thickness. Not surprisingly called the Super Thin series the screens use approximately

WOLLONGONG’S BIG SIGN ON CAMPUS

LEDAVISION GO ROUND IN CIRCLES

These days life is all about informing, connecting and celebrating, which is exactly what this Communitech installation is doing for the University of Wollongong (UOW). The network of LCD, plasma and other screens throughout the campus broadcasts UOWnow, the university’s news channel if you like. Simplifying communication with the students, UOWnow is already an accepted part of everyday campus life. And not only is it a key player in the spread of information throughout the university, but it is also embedded in the curriculum.

Most of us tend to walk in circles whenever we’re in shopping centres or dash in every direction like mice in a maze. Ledavision has come up with a digital signage display that will keep your attention no matter where you’re standing. The Ledavision Rota 360 is an eye-catching 360° screen made up of three separate 120° displays. To achieve the effect of a continuous viewing surface, the Rota 360 display overlaps red, green and blue colours in the same point with accurate controlling logic. This shrinks the gap between pixels and makes the bias of the basic pixels invisible to naked eyes. Using this technology delivers a high definition result with a vivid image. Other new processes allow for a constant image without interrupted viewing points. The screen supports a variety of input signals including S-Video, CVBS, DVI or VGA and can be directly linked to most standard media players.

Communitech supplied and helped install the Omnivex Moxie Digital Signage content management system at the university’s campus. The system, which is perfect for small to enterprise level deployments, provides full design layout, flexibility, a range of content types including Flash and RSS feeds, as well as video and linking of data in real time. Thanks to its intuitive interface, the system’s administrator Anthony Petri says he can dedicate more time to tailoring content to suit the audience.

Hills SVL: (02) 96471411 or nsw@hillssvl.com.au

Communitech: (07) 3205 6188 or sales@communitech.com.au

per annum to reach A$58.4m by 2013 (Australia Digital Signage Systems Market Report 2010, Frost & Sullivan)

50% less material resources and 10% fewer LCD module parts than current comparable displays. Being lightweight and super slim, JVC also suggests that basic wall hooks and fasteners available at any DIY store will suffice for installations and even flat magnets for temporary occasions. Hell, let’s go the whole hog and scrunch up a ball of Blu-Tack? But seriously, in situations like temporary office partitions and mobile displays that super thin, super light feature will make things easy. JVC Professional: (02) 9370 8967 or oakesn@jvcpro.com.au

SIGN UP FOR SIGNAGE: LG Electronics has had a longstanding relationship with CNN and now it’s about to cash in. LG is launching SignNet in the US, a “one price gives you everything” subscription-style system of digital signage distribution aimed at smallto medium-sized businesses which want to closely focus when and where their DOOH advertisements are seen. But it’s not all about the adverts – the clever partnership with CNN now allows LG to offer clients a wide range of up-to-date news and information broadcasts to accompany the marketing material and keep the audience

watching, avoiding any stale or static content. The concept does mean that advertisements are usually best displayed via a selection of design templates to allow for staying within the CNN formatting, however it’s not compulsory. LG: (02) 8805 4395 or www.lgsolutions.com MITSUBISHI SEES LIGHT: Mitsubishi’s latest offering, the 65-inch MDT651S, looks to offer features that are a little more important than sheer size. It has two tricks up its sleeve, one being it is Mitsubishi’s first display with IP-addressable capability, enabling users to

control and manage it through the proprietary Mitsubishi networking software. Connection is via a Cat5 cable, allowing it to be positioned up to 150m from the signal source. The other idea is the inclusion of two ambient light sensors, front and rear, instead of just one. The designers have recognised that light sources from directions other than those directly onto the screen, such as sunlight through a window behind, need to be taken into account. Simple, but clever. Mitsubishi Electric: (02) 9684 7777 or www.mitsubishielectric.com.au

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

BEAUTIFUL GAME

NORTH SYDNEY’S BIG SCREEN CONCOURSE

Sao Paulo’s Pacaembu Stadium has an amazing new 6900sqm Soccer Museum. The museum’s 17 rooms of exhibits tell the story of soccer in Brazil. There are 117 flat-screen monitors from 15 to 60 inches in size, and some 55 projectors, from 2000 to 15,000 lumens in brightness. With its ability to orchestrate all image sources, blend projected images together and control shows in a user-programmable timeline, Dataton’s Watchout software provided the museum with an open-ended solution that is as easy to update as it is to control. This is important because, the whole museum is controlled from a central data centre, making it possible to re-program any part of the museum from one location, and for equipment status to be monitored from that same location. There are 104 Watchout display stations used on the site, interfacing with the museum’s Medialon Manager show-control backbone.

Sydney’s newest entertainment venue, The Concourse has announced plans to include an outdoor screen at the open space area on The Concourse when the venue opens late 2011. The screen will see a range of free entertainment offered by the venue such as digital art, open air cinema, broadcasts of live sporting events such as the World Cup and Olympics, important national events and live screenings of sold out performances held in the Performing Arts Centre on The Concourse. Run on GreenPower and composed of a series of modular LED units, the screen be situated on the upper grass area of The Concourse and will include a main screen viewed from the outdoor grassed area and the grand stairs leading to the Concert Hall. A smaller rear screen will be able to be viewed from the hotel courtyard area. The Concourse: www.theconcourse.com.au

Interactive Controls: (02) 9436 3022 or www.interactivecontrols.com.au

Digital signage is an important, global trend; in most regions, digital signage is starting to take off. Many AV

NAVORI UPGRADE: Navori has released a new version of its software, now up to 5.2. Among a list of enhancements are two major features, Extended Reporting which provides more detailed information on the content displayed and Watchdog, an add-on that runs in the background of your PC to monitor the overall health of your computer. Also, Navori 5.2 can be used with any display that supports the Energy Star or VESA Display Power Management Signalling standards. Energy Star compliant displays must not consume more than 2 watts while in sleep mode. Navori 5.2 is available as a free upgrade to users with existing software and support

NEWS:

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maintenance plans, can be purchased separately and, of course, is provided to all new clients. Command Australia (02) 4560 1800 or www. commandaustralia.com.au EXTENDERS: The KV-900T & AV900R are solutions for extending audio and video data over IP ethernet, making these useful in a wide range of digital signage applications that require one-to-many or many-to-many distribution networks such as informational displays, corporate signage, boardrooms, courtrooms, medical, military and education facilities to name but a few (actually, I don’t think there’s anywhere left).The KVT 900T transmit-

ter connects with a PC or any device with VGA/DVI/Audio outputs. The AV-99R receiver connects with a DVI/ VGA display and an optional speaker/ keyboard/mouse. All available 100M, Giga or Fibre Ethernet LAN switching HUB/router can be used to connect the Transmitter and the Receiver. Command Australia (02) 4560 1800 or www.commandaustralia.com.au ZIRIS v7: You’ll see mention of Ziris elsewehere in this mag, specifically in the article about the Sydney Opera House and in the company profiles. But just to make sure we now know exactly what we’re all talking about, Sony has officially released Ziris

WITHOUT RESERVATION

INTERACTIVE BOINK-O!

FNAC, one of the largest international entertainment retail chains in France, uses 1500 networked BrightSign solid-state players to drive more than 3000 full HD displays in 80 stores throughout France. Without requiring the use of a PC, the displays deliver eye-catching, high-definition video and highquality image promotions for upcoming concerts and other events, as well as a calendar of events and pricing. Because FNAC handles ticket reservations and sales for about 21,000 events each year, a key requirement was to make remote updates so easy, even non-technical employees could quickly make the changes. This was accomplished by having all of the BrightSign players networked and managed from FNAC’s head office using BrightSign Network, a secure web-based application, and the interface software TMM, specifically designed for FNAC. BrightSign’s hosted network service not only simplifies remote updates, it eliminates the cost of creating and maintaining a network to manage all of the displays at FNAC’s stores and will scale to accommodate stores that are added in the future.

never.no’s Active Mobile Interface enabled visitors at InfoComm 2010 to play Boink-O! using their mobile phones as controllers. The Boink-O! game, developed by Show+Tell and 15 letters, was displayed on a five-tile high by 10-tile wide Christie MicroTiles digital sign.

IDT (Brightsign): 1300 666 099 or www.idt.com.au

The never.no Active Mobile Interface enables audience participation by turning any mobile phone keypad into a game controller, mouse, keyboard, or any other interface for playing games, voting, or simply browsing and selecting content. The never.no system is flexible enough not only to work with digital signage, but also standard TV, Web IPTV, and mobile content. And when used in conjunction with the never.no Auto Dialogue System (ADS), the advertiser can follow up the interaction with an SMS message containing game scores, follow up information, and coupons for prizes to establish a long-tail relationship. Never.no: www.never.no Show + Tell: www.showandtell.com 15 Letters: www.15letters.com VRS (Christie): www.vrs.com.au

integrators report that their digital signage business has increased in excess of 40%. (2010 InfoComm Asia-Pacific Report)

Professional Version 7 as its digital signage platform. Ziris is described as modular with the five separate applications called (Ziris) Create, Transfer, Edge, Manage and View available as a combined suite or they can be installed individually as needs require. Sony Australia: 1300 720 071 or www.sony.com.au ROKU OF AGES: Roku is a Californian company created by Anthony Wood, who apparently invented the personal video recorder. So it should be no surprise Roku specialises in digital signage systems that still depend on tech-

nology other than computer-based devices. Roku has expanded its BrightSign family of non-PC digital sign and kiosk controllers by introducing five new models that are all compact-sized and support full HD video and zones as standard features. The new product line-up includes in the price a looping video player with two models offering basic or advanced interactivity and two models supporting networking with remote content delivery and reporting.

projectors, screens and monitors under its belt, Custom Display Solutions has come up with a design for mounting Christie Microtile displays of any size and configuration. The Titan Designs feature sturdy support structures, adjustable brackets, active thermal management and a host of other options like touch-interactivity to make the most of Christie’s Digital Canvas products.

IDT: 1300 666 099 or sales@idt.com.au

LARGE FORMAT SENSOR: NextWindow has released the 2500 Large-Format Optical Sensor, a

MICROTILE MOUNT: With 10 years of creating enclosures for

Custom Display Solutions: info@cds4av.com or www.cds4av.com

new touchscreen kit designed for commercial applications available in sizes from 30- to 52-inch. The optical sensors use a passive illumination system, improving reliability. The 2500 Large-Format Optical Sensor kit includes all of the components necessary, including optical sensors, controller board, passive border and device driver. Standard kits for the 2500 do not include glass, but it can be specified. The 2500 supports Microsoft Windows 7 multitouch functions such as zoom, rotate, tap and press-and-tap. IDT: 1300 666 099 or sales@idt.com.au Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

WHO’S WHO:

3M AUSTRALIA 136 136 or solutions.3m.com.au When it comes to its digital signage products 3M Australia starts with the 3M Network Edition (NE) Software for scheduling, management and delivery of multimedia content. Other product offerings include 3M projectors and 3M’s Vikuiti rear projection film that transforms a window or almost any transparent surface into a screen for projectors to focus on from safely inside the premises. A new product is 3M’s Visual Attention Service (VAS), a facility for analysing digital images and determining which areas of that image will attract the viewer’s attention within the first three to five seconds. It uses scientific comparisons of colour contrasts and shapes to help content creators fine-tune parts of images that are important or conversely scale back sections not critical to the message. Last, but not least, 3M offers large-format touchscreen solutions including the new M2256PW Multi-Touch Display, a 22-inch (560mm) touch screen that can respond to 20 simultaneous fingers within six milliseconds. That makes it ideal for the whole range of interactive DOOH systems as long as your authoring software can take advantage of the M2256PW’s capabilities.

To be strictly correct Amber Technology doesn’t have any digital signage services of its own to offer. However, it is the distributor of Gefen and SpinitiX products, which are already listed on these pages – to mention just a few. In fact, that’s the point here. Amber Technology is the Australian distributor of such a large range of overseas manufacturers, including the makers of just about every bit of electronic gadgetry you’ll need when it comes to installing a digital signage network, that it would be remiss not to bring Amber Technology to your attention. Another side to digital signage should be pointed out – plenty of companies are coming onto the scene offering to produce for clients broadcastquality content without getting involved in the actual hardware installations. One of Amber Technology’s Professional, Broadcast and Consumer divisions can tap into a wealth of expertise and resources to help find the right studio recording or video editing equipment. As a distributor Amber Technology may have to point you towards an authorised dealer, but don’t hesitate to give them a call.

AMX AUSTRALIA (07) 5531 3103 or www.amxaust.com.au

AERIS SOLUTIONS (03) 9544 6902 or www.aerissolutions.com.au Aeris Solutions saw the digital signage writing on the wall early and is well established in the industry with plenty of DOOH solutions on offer. It has a selection of stand-alone media players that range from entry-level to full-featured, high definition units. For networked installations, Aeris has a good handle on Sony’s DOOH line-up, offering Sony’s Ziris digital signage software in all its various forms from Lite through to Professional. Alternatively, Aeris can provide Signagelive, which is a relatively new take on Software as a Service (SAAS). Simplified, Signagelive clients share a single, common server and all use the same software to subscribe and upload to the Signagelive network via a secure Internet connection. Then through any web browser the user can manage their signage network, be it only one screen through to thousands of screens worldwide. The SAAS concept is relieves clients of the need to purchase and maintain the DOOH back-end server infrastructure themselves. The Signagelive subscription model allows them to expand or reduce their exposure as they see fit. Aeris also has in-store music solutions via Imagesound and VideoFlyer products, the latter being smaller stand-alone or networked media players enclosed within LCD screens designed for point-of-purchase installations.

AMBER TECHNOLOGY (02) 9452 8600 or www.ambertech.com.au

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

AMX is synonymous with networking and control systems. Not surprisingly AMX has entered the digital signage industry in its own right (after all, AMX supply a huge amount of gear for everyone else’s DOOH) and have on offer two products. Inspired Xpress is for smaller or simpler installations with a ‘tiny’ media player called the Is-Xpress-1000. The integrated software is comprehensive, yet straightforward and intuitive enough to cater to clients to get their screens up and running quickly with a minimum of servicing the message afterwards. Inspired Xpert is – as you might guess – a more serious DOOH product with better options like HD broadcasting that, among many other extras, takes advantage of those system command and control devices that AMX has in other corners of the warehouse to provide fully-blown large networks. Plus with Inspired XPert customers have access to custom content development and content management services from AMX.

CISCO SYSTEMS 1800 134 349 or web-help@cisco.com Cisco Systems is generally referred to as plain ‘Cisco’ and everyone knows who you’re talking about unless they get confused with a pair of questionable Mexican outlaws who were seen on ABC telly – oh, about a 100 years ago. Cisco is one of those large, US-based multinational companies that specialises in most aspects of modern business network and it’s surprising to learn the company originated from a husband and wife team who got peeved they couldn’t email each and decided to do something about it (no one explains why they

weren’t talking to each other, but I’ll bet it was his fault). Now they’ve got over 68,000 employees and branches all over the world including Australia. Cisco Digital Signage includes three product lines: The Cisco Digital Media Manager is a web-based media management application that manages, schedules and publishes digital media to digital signage displays. The Cisco Digital Media Player is an IP-based hardware endpoint that handles the display and playback of digital media content including high-definition live broadcasts and ondemand video, Flash animations, text tickers, and more all sourced from, of course, Media Manager. The Scientific Atlanta Encoder is for live broadcasting of standard-definition video to the Media Player. Models with both analogue and digital signage inputs are available.

COMMAND AUSTRALIA (02) 4560 1800 or www.commandaustralia.com.au Command Australia is an importer and distributor of digital signage and interactive products and provides full project management to get your DOOH designs and ambitions out there. Its products include Navori Digital Signage software, GlassVu, TransVu and other On-Glass Projection Films, Touch-Glass, Tap-Glass and interactive products such as Wincomm. If that all sounds a bit much Command can provide a complete Digital Signage Hosting service – just throw your digital signage ball into Command’s court and let it do all the worrying. It is also the authorised reseller of SoThink software, an authoring application that’s available in versions suitable for beginners through to professional programmers. However with 25 years in the IT, graphics and advertising industries Command has an impressive 2000 hours of stock ‘footage’ that can be used as a basis for your advertising designs. For hardware Command is a reseller of several well-recognised brands of projection and display devices such as NEC, Samsung, Mitsubishi and Projectiondesign to name but a few. Basically, Command is a one-stop shop for digital signage and interactive displays.

COMMUNITECH (07) 3205 6188 or www.communitech.com.au Communitech is based in Brisbane, Queensland and has the Australian and New Zealand distributorship of Omnivex Moxie, a digital signage software suite developed by Omnivex Corporation in Ontario, Canada. Omnivex Moxie offers authoring with a Layout Designer, Scheduling, Playlist Builder and more. A separate (but included) application is dedicated to synchronising large displays over grids of multiple screens, while SQLLink 4 and Datapipe are for sorting and sourcing data from all the corners of your databases. A neat application that Omnivex Moxie currently has in Beta development

Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

is the Omnivex GPS Link where digital signage that’s installed on mobile platforms like buses and trains can be linked to an onboard GPS device and the display changed according to the vehicle’s location. For example, tour buses could display information relevant to the scenery outside along with a live tracking map, and potentially public transport could display advertisements that match businesses nearby. Passengers can press their noses to the window and watch the storefront whizz by – hey, no one said the bus would stop. Communitech recently completed a project at the University of Wollongong proving that clients ‘south of the border’ are welcomed. In fact, it has done projects from the Pilbara in WA to Dunedin in NZ.

DYNAMIC VISUAL SOLUTIONS (02) 9431 6070 or www.dynamicvisualsystems.com.au Dynamic Visual Solutions is based in Artarmon, Sydney and approaches the digital signage business in a slightly different, almost refreshing way. Rather than offer you its own range of screens, players and applications (though we should point out strong partnerships here with CoolSign and Nexcom) DVS suggests the very first thing you should consider in your digital signage concepts is exactly what you’d like to do, see and have to work with. From there, DVS will start putting a range of solutions on the table and take them right through to a turnkey completion. A distinction is made by DVS between Digital Signage, Kiosk and Video Wall systems but the tailor-made approach of building a DOOH network from the ground up based on a client’s initial vision still applies. Creative software is also sourced or supplied from inside DVS, however its parent company Digistor is an option to provide any bigger-than-Ben-Hur video content you’d like. It almost goes without saying that full installation and support are a part of the deal.

at the end of line. There is also the FDMP series of digital ‘media panels’ that are all-in-one interactive displays with built-in media players. Fujitsu Digital pretty much has all the digital signage bases covered and it’s worth noting that Fujitsu has a full range of digital projectors, if displays won’t do the job. With all Fujitsu systems, third-party software and control can be integrated.

HEWLETT-PACKARD 1300 305017 or www.hp.com.au GEFEN www.gefen.com Distributor: Amber Technology (02) 9452 8600 or gefen@ambertech.com.au When it started up in 1995 Gefen was developing products of its ex-tend-it Professional Series which were primarily solutions to separate the operators of audio/visual editing suites from the noisy computers, servers and peripherals of their trade. The basic tools of KVM (keyboard, video & mouse) were extended into silent environments. The original market was post-production facilities, but the designs behind its products allowed Gefen to branch out into fields like live stage presentations, broadcast and now digital signage and, of course, there’s a bit more involved than providing a wireless mouse with fresh batteries. In the late ‘90s Gefen turned its attention to digital distribution of video and HDTV signals and another inevitable progression was to build up a large catalogue of splitters, converters, modifiers and cabling. Today Gefen caters for every signal format you can imagine. In fact, if Gefen doesn’t have the plug-converting gadget you need, you’re probably doing it wrong – not Gefen. But it’s all about connectivity for Gefen. Aside from a few media players, Gefen doesn’t provide large hardware solutions like video displays and such.

Fujitsu Digital is a division of the long-established Fujitsu General Ltd, a company that has over the years manufactured every kitchen appliance possible and more recently high-end electronics goods. Fujitsu Digital Media Solutions is based in its Centre for Excellence at Fujitsu Docklands, Melbourne. Its digital signage services are marketed under the all-encompassing mantle of Telentice Enterprise, a concept that brings together three main components, the Telentice Player, the Telentice Monitor and a selection of hardware media players and commercial display screens. The Player is a fullyfeatured professional software package for creating and managing all your broadcast media, while the Monitor is a separate application aimed more towards system maintenance and control. A range of FDMA Media Players are the hardware devices

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has a Retail Store Solutions division which among the point-of-sale terminals, networked PCs and touchscreen devices there’s a digital signage range of products. Dig a little deeper and the touchscreen stuff begins to morph into the digital signage department anyway. HP offers two sizes of screens for digital signage, a 42-inch LD4200 LCD model – also available as the LD4200tm being the touch screen ‘interactive’ option – and the LD4700 which is (take a wild guess) a 47-inch version. This isn’t so much a lack of choices, but more that HP has identified what they believe are the optimum screen sizes for in-store displays and loaded all the DS goodies into these two models. Details on the software required to run your signage are a little sketchy other than to state on their website that, “our products are designed to work seamlessly together in any scenario. Together with software solutions provided by our ISV/solutions partners...” which doesn’t tell us much. They also offer to “make your entire IT lifecycle as simple as possible”. Jury’s still out on that one.

INTERACTIVE CONTROLS (02) 9436 3022 or www.interactivecontrols.com.au HARRIS CORPORATION (02) 9975 9700 or www.harris.com

FUJITSU DIGITAL MEDIA SOLUTIONS (03) 9924 3468 or au.fujitsu.com/digitalmedia

ment that includes further automation features and extras like generating invoices. Harris’ website presence is daunting, but persevere, get in touch and someone local with all the answers will drop by – probably in an FA-18.

Considering that Harris Corporation has been involved in developing the network infrastructure for half the western world’s armies and navies systems, including a recent $135m contract for the Australian Defense Force, you can be confident its DOOH products should be reliable. And if you worry that digital signage will be a ‘small beer’ for Harris as the tech guys solder up the latest aircraft carrier you only need to visit its website to see Harris take DOOH solutions very seriously. From a small display in the office boardroom to large screens surrounding a massive sports arena, Harris does the lot. Its systems are based on Harris’ Infocaster products which include the Infocaster Creator, Infocaster Player and the Infocaster Manager. The names are self-explanatory except to point out that Infocaster Players are a range of hardware components, not software. Manager provides playback functions. A further product called Punctuate is for more targeted media playback and manage-

Interactive Controls (IC) offers a variety of services to customers from consultation to sales, hire and installation of display and control system equipment and software. They also design and develop media and hardware control systems for specific events, installations, film and commercial shoots, exhibitions, museums... okay, you get the picture. Medialon and Dataton hardware and software products get the nod from Interactive Controls and for digital signage in particular IC offers the Medialon show and media control software and embedded controllers along with Dataton Watchout and Medialon MIP HD Interactive Media Player. There is also the Medialon Scheduler application, which allows control of multiple venues and screens from a central server. Given Interactive Controls’ wide experience in installing innovative display systems it can help you choose the best way to deliver your vision and with Medialon’s strong history in show control systems, IC will no doubt have a neat trick or two to suggest for impressing your audience.

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WHO’S WHO:

MIMIO Distributor: Newell Rubbermaid Office Products (03) 8796 7400 or www.newellrubbermaid.com Mimio’s main focus is educational products, specifically a range of equipment that converts a standard classroom environment into something interactive via its Interactive, Pad, Capture and Wireless kits. Mimio was born from a bright idea by Yonald Chery, an MIT teaching assistant who noticed that students were too busy making notes from the teacher’s whiteboard scribbling, so he developed the Mimio Interactive, a device that attached to the whiteboard, connected to a PC and subsequently digitally recorded everything written for the students to later access. As with all good ideas, Mimio was soon gobbled up by Newell Rubbermaid, the company of Sharpie, Papermate and Parker fame (to name a few). While new schools are never short on technology, Mimio should have some solutions for dragging older facilities into the 21st century.

NEC AUSTRALIA 131 632 or displays@nec.com.au NEC Australia has a large catalogue of LCD displays, plasma screens and digital projectors from which it can source its own hardware products and package them together into a digital signage ‘total solution’ to suit anyone’s needs. A significant point NEC makes is that you’ll deal with the same brand right throughout the process. The cornerstone of NEC’s Digital Signage Solution is its PanelDirector software application which comes in either standard or professional versions that caters for small or large networks. However, PanelDirector has no authoring component. To have all the nuts and bolts of digital signage at your fingertips NEC can offer you NEC Live, a suite of five software applications including (NEC) Artist, Communicate, Player, Update and Enterprise that respectively deal with content creation, distribution, playback, refreshing schedules and monitoring the system. Both PanelDirector and NEC Live have support for third-party devices such as touch screens. Being NEC Australia the company has all kinds of desktop, laptop and server computers to drive the software and media, but if you need something to stand on its own two modular, plastic feet there is the NEC Digital Signage Media Player.

PANASONIC AUSTRALIA 132 600 or www.panasonic.com.au It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Panasonic, which already has a huge manufacturing base for televisions and monitors, should jump on the digital signage bandwagon. It’s fronted by the Commercial Plasma Display series of products that come in two configurations. One is a selection of Optional

Terminal Boards that will convert your Panasonic plasma screen of choice to accept data signals to suit your needs ranging from digital PC inputs to the humble RCA video component. Alternatively there is an Embedded Solution with a small PC installed into the plasma that can operate as a stand-alone display without a network. Panasonic can provide DOOH authoring and network control software in the form of its digital signage application, NDS 3.1, which can apparently feed both analogue and digital screens in a variety of formats suggesting that your digital signage network doesn’t necessarily need to be confined to Panasonic’s plasma range. As long as it’s a Panasonic display of some kind, I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to hook it up to your DOOH display.

PRIME DIGITAL MEDIA (02) 9660 9400 or www.primedigitalmedia.com Prime Digital Media is one of the bigger kids on the block boasting partnerships with Telstra, Yahoo!7 and EnQii. PMD is all about broadcasting your digital signage on one (or more) of its existing three networks. The Lifestyle network focuses on displays installed in Boost Juice stores around Australia, the Home Electronics network is primarily placed in Retravision outlets and the Well Being network is seen in Amcal, Blooms and Guardian pharmacy stores… are you starting to get the picture? Otherwise you can discuss with PMD the potential to have one of its Managed Networks installed in your very own chain of retail shops and PMD will source and filter the content you want including in-house material like staff training and safety or community messages. In all PMD has over 6000 LCD and Plasma screens at prominent and point-of-sale positions around the country. A wholly-owned subsidiary called Fireback Digital is responsible for creating all the content and distribution, control and scheduling of all DOOH signage is done via Acuity software.

SALIENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS (02) 93135111 or www.salient.com.au It’s worth remembering that not all digital signage needs to be – or even should be –some kind of high resolution picture like you’re sitting at home watching television. Salient Information Systems specialize in LED digital displays ranging from announcing your burger and chips are waiting at the bar to the kind of large and complex data information displays such as you see at the stock exchange, airports and other passenger terminals. Salient’s main claim to fame is providing custom-built LED signs along with computer systems and software designed for Flight Information Display Systems (FIDS) and Passenger Information Display Systems (PIDS), but also have a full range of alternative displays like plasma, LCD and video monitors that can be the primary source of viewing or linked as re-

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peaters of the main displays. Salient even still offer a range of ‘split flap’ installations, those motorized signs where the numbers and letters flip over. While the data delivery is very much digital and modernized, the split flap designed is often preferred in harsh environments.

SAMSUNG 1300 362603 or www.samsunglfd.com Samsung’s digital signage is centred on its Large Format Display (LFD) range, a screen with chameleon characteristics in its role as the basis for all Samsung’s DOOH products. There is a straightforward model that can be used either stand-alone in portrait or landscape mode or as a part of a limited multi-screen display. A slightly different UD model can be linked with up to 250 units for a wall of vision. There is a Touchscreen version including an outdoor type with features to withstand the elements and a specialised uVending model for installing in the front of vending machines. MagicInfo is Samsung’s proprietary software for content control and creations. Samsung’s PROM system is already taking DOOH solutions along the fast-developing path of providing audience statistics to tailor the signage content. A wide dynamic range (WDR) camera embedded discreetly somewhere in the installation captures and recognises faces to determine who is actually watching the screen. PROM can either just collate the information for market analysis or actively change the display according to who is viewing it. It’s both clever and almost scary ‘big brother’ stuff. We’re assured these systems are completely anonymous. Still, maybe keep one hand on your wallet.

SHARP AUSTRALIA 1300 13 55 30 or www.sharp.net.au Sharp Australia has boosted its Professional range of information display panels. King of the Sharp hill is the LB1085, a whopping 108-inch stand-alone LCD monitor. At a paltry RRP of $185,900 we’ll be putting one in the corner of the office to keep an eye on the footy scores. After that Sharp offers a PN series of displays that allow for networking and remote control of digital signage content. Ranging from 60-inch down to 32-inch and with a choice of resolutions, it’s worth pointing out that these PN models are screens aimed at the DOOH market with slim, near frameless designs and the ability to display in portrait mode – they’re not just high-end televisions that have migrated over into digital signage. A dedicated application for controlling content called Sharp Digital Signage Software comes in three versions, a fully featured PNSS02 for networked systems, the PNSS01 for stand-alone displays and PNSV01 is only a viewer to monitor what’s coming from your server. A semi-professional range of displays is also available – think indoors

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like classrooms and office suites.

SONY AUSTRALIA 1800 017669 or www.sony.com.au For the moment, Sony is focusing its digital signage products on what it does best, a wide range of high-definition displays, then offers the VSPNS7 Media Player, the BKM-FW50 Digital Signage adapter and the VSPA-D7 Management Software to cater for them all. However, blink while you’re checking its website and things might suddenly change as its Ziris software takes over. Meanwhile, its Public Display series of LCD screens offers sizes from the 65-inch ‘Ruggedized’ GXD-L65H1 model down to a 32-inch KLH-W32 All-In-One unit (for which the English language isn’t asked to sacrifice anything at all). Some screens are capable of portrait orientation or can have added connectivity – suffice to say that all combined, the various models allow system designers enough choice to get the desired result along with a selection of accessories. The VSP-NS7 Media Player is a separate unit with a 120GB HDD for content and it must have the VSPA-D7 Management Software to work. The BKM-FW50 Digital Signage adapter lets you use a CompactFlash memory card for data which will playback in a programmable slide-show style. But again, remember Sony’s DOOH product line is being revamped and all the above could be just a sign of things to come.

SPINETIX www.spinetix.com Distributor: Amber Technology (02) 9452 8600 or www.ambertech.com.au From its developers in Switzerland, SpinetiX offers products to professionally schedule, combine, stream, update, animate and display in real-time video, audio, graphics and text on any digital video display. The hardware heart of its system is the HMP 100, a stand-alone Hyper Media Player that acts as an interface for converting any standard video unit into a digital signage display. Its Hyper Media Director is a software application that provides for data distribution across any network and also has an authoring component as well. Both the HMP and HMD are available as separate purchases with the latter offered for download with a 30-day trial.

SUMO VISUAL SOLUTIONS (03) 9429 4552 or info@sumovisual.com.au Sumo Visual Solutions’ roots are in high-quality printing of signage on a wide range of products

ranging from ceramics to canvas. However, since 2002 it has seen the digital signage light and now also offers DOOH networks – which they prefer to call ‘content on demand’. Sumo Vision supplies and manages hardware and software that is designed to suit the individual’s content requirements. Distribution is through a secure web-enabled system which allows either one central or multiple sites to manage content.

TECHMEDIA DIGITAL SYSTEMS (SCALA) (02) 9526 7880 or www.connectedsignage.com.au Just to be clear, Techmedia isn’t only a digital signage company. It’s the Australian distributor of several specialist multimedia products for creating and distributing digital media over anything from simple DVDs to broadcast TV. However, its DOOH services offer Scala, one of the first and now largest digital signage companies to appear on the world scene. Based in Philadelphia, Scala boasts an impressive list of clientele and is responsible for over 200,000 screens worldwide. Scala’s experience shows in its product; the comprehensive content creation and distribution software goes one step further with Scala Ad Manager, an accounting add-on that handles the financial side of your DOOH business such as generating invoices. In the hardware department, Scala has its own Scala Player for linking with the Content Manager software. From there Techmedia will source display screens and networks best suited to the job. Along with APN Outdoor and Barco, Techmedia created the 37m-high sign across from Melbourne’s Flinders Street Station atop the historic Young & Jackson Hotel. Don’t worry, if you want digital signage a little smaller, Techmedia is happy to talk to you.

Techtel can offer Playbox, a kind of closed-circuit ‘TV in a box’ setup. Given Techtel’s large base of broadcast product and the content creation services these can tap into, coupled with the X2O and Playbox services, Techtel has a lot of DOOH solutions to offer.

TELSTRA 1300 835 782 or www.telstraenterprise.com/ productsservices/enterprisecommunications/ unifiedcommunications/Pages/TelstraDigitalSignageSolutions Check the website address above and you’ll agree that Telstra’s – yes, Telstra – new Digital Signage Division is well buried. That isn’t to say it isn’t serious about providing digital signage services, quite the opposite. There’s a bit of ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ here with Telstra mentioning its partnership with Prime Media Digital, otherwise the information provided is a little shy on specifics as to who exactly is providing what, except to say onpremise equipment is from Cisco and everything else comes from “partnerships with acknowledged leaders”. Telstra can probably afford to play its cards close to the chest given its first-in-line access to the nation’s next generation networks will be an appreciable marketing edge on its own. At this point Telstra is offering three digital signage packages; the Core Solution for clients who can create and manage their own content or there are the Extras Packages A & B that respectively provide increasing levels of support and features. Details are scarce here too, it’s like Telstra has announced the opening of its digital signage office, but they haven’t even put a nameplate on the door yet. One wonders if the phone is connected…

TECHTEL (02) 9906 1488 or www.techtel.tv Techtel is an independent broadcast technology systems specialist, providing dedicated hardware and software to the Australian, New Zealand and SE Asian broadcast industries. Incorporated in 1985, Techtel’s expertise includes straightforward consulting through to systems integration and the supply, installation and support of a wide range of film, video and broadcast equipment from Techtel’s catalogue. Its digital signage services focus on two products.

If you spot any errors or omissions, don’t get angry, get in touch. Contact Chris Holder on chris@dsmag.com.au

X2O Media is a Canadian-based company that provides its Xpresenter Platform software for networks and larger installations or the Xpresenter Xe which is for single channel, smaller applications. There is also the Xpresenter vClips, software designed for touchscreen devices. X2O tell us that Xpresenter is based on Microsoft’s PowerPoint software, which is comfortingly familiar territory for some, then X2O Media added a large shot of steroids. Alternatively,

www.dsmag.com.au Digital Place-Based Media & Technology

Comment:

DigitalSignage hears from the mug punter.

Story: Mug Punter

“It’ll be like strolling through your own art gallery with your favourite CD in the stereo” As I walk down the street of the near future how am I going to feel about all this information pointed directly at me?

Up until now I’ve been pretty good at avoiding advertisements. I’m not alone and the marketing gurus know this. Defeating tech-savvy people like me is their greatest challenge. We can record television and skip over the commercials, we can flick over the pages of a newspaper or magazine (very technical, that one), we can apply filters to our web browsers and we can mute the radio to near silence till the babbling adverts stop and the babbling music starts instead. An advertisement of any kind, be it in print or on the radio and TV, needs to be something special to grab my attention – usually funny for mine or since I’m a normal, red-blooded and well-adjusted bloke who drinks beer and eats meat pies a near-naked young woman will catch my eye every time. Otherwise I’ll do my best to ignore everything, because bad adverts annoy me.

It’s not going to be so easy with digital signage. For a starter, it’ll probably see me coming. There are already DOOH systems in place that have cameras embedded inside the displays that analyse you, the audience, and determine things like your height, weight, sex, skin colour… you name it. These systems are supposed to be anonymous collectors of marketing data only or at best (or worst, depending on your levels of paranoia) the DOOH display will be tricky enough to quickly change the content to suit your demographic. But the cynical conspiracy-theorists among us have no doubt that accurate facial recognition will be the next step and the sneaky cameras will be placed 30 metres down the footpath. Before you know it, the DOOH will recognize me, recall that I’m the chap who likes a cold beer and a bit of steak and kidney, then as I pass the digital sign (carefully timed by the speed of my walk) it’ll throw up a picture of a naked Jennifer Anniston with a frosty pint in one hand and steaming pie in the other. And, of course, all the info needed on where to buy both (sadly not all three).

It’s almost scary. At the same time it’s reassuring that the level of technol-

ogy behind digital signage marketing can maybe ensure a high standard of content for yours truly. That would be most welcome indeed. You see, I have a theory about my pet hate, the current poor state of free-to-air commercial television. The programming is filled with really silly reality shows, cooking stand-offs and celebrities dancing with two left feet, because the station wants to attract very stupid viewers. Why? Well, only very stupid viewers might be convinced in 30 seconds that their oven can be cleaned with a single wipe, their floor will shine with a single mop and there are steep hills in the world (for 4WDs to drive up and down) where the trees mysteriously grow at an angle. It’s all about attracting an audience who can be persuaded by the advertising. Commercials are wasted on intelligent people.

Digital signage shouldn’t need to stoop so low. As smart DOOH systems start to dominate the footpaths and shop fronts of the city they’ll adjust and reload content in the blink of an eye to suit you personally as you pass. It’ll be like strolling through your own art gallery with your favourite CD in the stereo.

Unless you have a complete idiot walking next to you who happens to be slightly taller or a little bit fatter – they grab the camera’s focus. Then you’ll be surrounded by a nightmare of steak knife adverts. What if the DOOH setup is too clever? It recognises you have a small child beside you and it’s Christmas in three weeks time. You’ll think you’ve somehow stepped into a Toys R Us/Willy Wonker catalogue.

So when you’re travelling the footpath of the future, to make sure you’re surrounded by pleasing digital imagery, my advice is to walk alone or at least stand on your tip-toes or put on a bit of flab. And leave the kids at home. See? I’m an expert now.

DigitalSignage magazine wants to know what you’re up to. Share your plans and opinions with Chris Holder on chris@dsmag.com.au

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