In a post about the five best games to play with GPS on a smartphone, PCPro lists Waymarking as #3. Most other games to be played on Smartphones with GPS capabilities have to do with geocaching, geostashing, or geoashing. Waymarking on the other hand is described thus:
While Geocaching is all about heading out to find hidden treasure, Waymarking calls on your smartphone’s native GPS tools to help you learn more about your local area. You don’t need to install any specific software, and it’s surprising what it turns up.
Tap in your postcode at waymarking.com to see what you’ve been missing and, if you’re looking for somewhere to walk this weekend, subscribe to its RSS feed for a stream of the latest additions to its global database.
This certainly could come into play for future use in digital out-of-home advertising as a "social media integration." Of course, it would only work in urban areas where DOOH is present. If you were using GPS in the mountains to find a waymarked spot, you would probably not find the spot integrated with any type of signage. However, waymarked locations in an urban environment, mixed with "experience" marketing through OOH, could be a very useful tool in wayfinding people to your local business, much like Google is doing with Store View. Integrate that with some GPS and Waymarking and you could really have something very interesting, but extremely powerful for driving traffic out-of-home.
It is not redundant to speak more on maps in a more hyperlocal sense. Last week I spoke about possible efforts for Google Store View. Some of the development efforts being done by both Microsoft and Google will certainly find use in wayfinding for place-based media. Using geo-specificity technology with Flicker and Photosynth is now being used in combination with Bing Maps for wayfinding. If you just simply use your imagination, you can start to think about all the applications of something like this.
Live demonstrations at Digital Signage Expo, Las Vegas, Booth 1613, 24-25 February 2010
Markham, Ontario, Canada – 18 February, 2010 – At this year’s Digital Signage Expo, visitors will experience a major new audience analytics suite that ensures digital signs are highly interactive and accountable. The new solution integrates Capital Networks Ltd’s (CNL) industry leading broadcast and dynamic digital signage software, with CognoVision’s award-winning AIM audience measurement & retail intelligence suite. The off-the-shelf solution enables organizations such as retailers, airports or medical centres, to analyse, track and direct the movements of customers, and have a clear picture of how digital signs are influencing their behavior.
The integrated solution provides critical audience metrics and enables media content on signs to be customized – automatically – based on viewer characteristics, effectively delivering the right message to the right people at the right time. As a result, the solution delivers demonstrable ROI. Visitors to the booth can see the technology in action – how, for example, a sign’s content changes if it detects more male viewers and an advertisement for a male grooming product could be displayed to hit the target market.
Haroon Mirza, Director of Business Development for CognoVision, commented: "CNL was the first digital signage provider we have ever partnered with and I’m delighted to be at the show with them to premiere our complete suite of audience measurement systems which includes the core AIM – Anonymous Impression Metric – system alongside AIM Traffic, Queue Tracking and Heat Map technology. Organizations around the world are using digital signs to effectively display customer information and marketing campaigns. Our technology takes their deployment to a new, strategic level – ensuring those signs are highly relevant and converting into sales. Companies are using our solutions today and the market for intelligent audience and traffic measurement is growing at a dramatic rate."
CognoVision's fully automated AIM platform is an audience measurement system optimized for use in digital signage networks using proprietary face detection and people tracking technology to find viewers' faces detected by digital optic devices. CNL’s Audience™ digital signage software platform provides all the tools needed to create, manage and play out dynamic digital signage. The sophisticated creation, scheduling and management ability of Audience™ software has been fully integrated with CognoVision's AIM platform to provide an unprecedented level of accountability in real time.
Combining Audience™ with AIM enables organizations to:
Identify number of impressions and browsers – count how many people pass and view the signs; analyze top-line demographics of those people, such as age and gender
Measure engagement levels and dwell time – track how long people watch the signs for; highlight which advertisements are attracting attention
Display targeted content based on real time audience characteristics – content can be adapted to make it relevant to the consumers looking at the signs
Optimize signage content and screen locations – tracking customer traffic and 'heat maps' shows how many people walk by the signs and conversion rates for particular advertisements
Automatically log what content was played and when – this can be linked in with sales information to truly understand ROI and if marketing campaigns are resulting in sales uplift
Morgan Henderson, Marketing Manager at CNL said: "CognoVision’s technology is extremely exciting – the company was recently named as Canada’s 2009 Innovation Leader by the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) – and represents the future of the digital signage market. One of the natural questions that people ask about any video analytics technology is about privacy – AIM has been designed specifically with privacy in mind and no personally identifiable data is ever collected. Again, this is something that CognoVision has been recognized for – this time by the Ontario Privacy Commissioner’s office, which included CognoVision as an exemplary company that has embedded the Privacy By Design principles into its technology during the Privacy By Design: The Gold Standard event held in Toronto last month."
Google Store Views will allow people to essentially walk into the store, off of Google Street Views. So imagine you are looking at this store, and then you can click on the door to enter it, all on Google Maps. Then when you enter the store, you can wall through it.
It's like Google and EveryScape are going to completely eliminate the need to leave your couch cushion. Can you imagine a world that is completely virtual? You walk down a virtual street, walk into a virtual store, purchase a virtual Twinkie and go watch a virtual movie in the movie theater. It may sound a bit absurd, but this is where it is all going. No more "real" experiences--all virtual. You'll never actually have to leave your house, get off your butt and do anything. Google is bringing the out-of-home experience right back to the home.
Adding "Google Store View" will be beneficial when in-store television becomes the norm. Couple the "store view" with Google's virtual digital signage on the street and you've got one incredibly powerful method for delivering targeted impacting advertisements.
Today's digital signage news picked up the story of the newly formed 501c non-profit association recently formed by Exponation--those that bring you DSE. The Digital Signage Federation--gotta love the Star Wars reference. Well, this is going to certainly make things interesting. There has been some recent clamor which essentially "calls out" the current association, claiming they are mostly self-serving because of their for-profit status and their connection to Networld Alliance--the group that brings you Digital Signage Today, Kiosk Marketplace, and the Self-Service World.
This certainly comes at a "slap in the face" time just prior to DSE and will certainly make things interesting going forward. While most of you reading this will likely be prepping for next week's event, be sure and keep your eye's open. It'll be interesting to see whether or not Digital Signage Today covers this. If they don't, I suppose "The Federation" will not have a problem.
The Digital Signage Association boasts over 400 members around the globe and they are expanding. The introduction of a truly non-profit entity will certainly put a damper on things for the DSA. While having a truly non-profit association within the industry was certainly needed, I feel that nothing being done here can be completely done with the guise of altruism--there will certainly be salaries paid as part of expenses :) Either way, I love the competitive nature of the announcement--it certainly makes things interesting. But, I love the "federation" even more. It makes it sounds so much like a science-fiction novel.
While part of the team at Helius , we worked on a number of projects with the United States Government. These included work with NIH (National Institute of Health), NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and the SSA (Social Security Administration). It happened at a time during the "Great Recession" when the only place to get money was from those who had the ability to print it, namely the government. Hence, the TARP funds were successful to some degree at putting more cash-flow back into capital markets. But how exactly did these government facilities benefit from having digital signage installed in their facilities? The answer may sound like a standard, contrived industry sales pitch, but I assure you, these government facilities sometimes had more to gain than the average pizza parlor or roadside pub.
At NASA, digital signage was used to inform visitors at their mammoth facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The units needed to managed remotely, but also needed to pass the stringent post-9/11 security requirements. This is generally standard on most enterprise software solutions, but just to be sure the software met their specifications we were required to
We did some work with the NIH (National Institute of Health) which has proved rewarding to them. They were seeking a way to enhance the waiting room experience with digital media of their own choice for both customers and employees. Consequently, they wanted something that would be remotely managed and that could schedule out high definition content for digital displays.
In each SSA office there is a captive audience. That's the way they saw it anyway. The best way the SSA could have worked to get their message to that audience was through digital signage. The intent of the Social Security Administration's installation was to be able to update visitors, but also have a very dynamic "next patron" numbers system. You know the type--you take a number take your seat, and then wait for your name to appear on the LED display. Similarly, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will I'm sure--if I'm not already aware of a massive rollout--implement something similar in the future. Even local government facilities will find the benefit in a robust digital signage software system as time progresses and acceptance for this media grows.
EveryScape lets businesses and organizations build engaging, immersive relationships with consumers through three-dimensional, photo-realistic experiences of cities & towns, streets & sidewalks, and building exteriors & interiors. EveryScape's patented technology platform allows anyone with a browser to experience a first-person, eye-level walk down a scaped street, gathering and sharing information on businesses and attractions, entering a store and shopping, checking the menu and reviews of a restaurant or the upcoming performances of a theater. It is the real world, online.
Google probably had something like this in mind with their new StreetView pilot. While EveryScape is not everywhere just yet, it can be used in approximately 45 cities. Some of them include Austin, New York, San Francisco,Washington D.C., Beijing, and Krakow. This is something of a digital out-of-home experience which has moved online. And, with the expansion, use, and improvement of Smartphones, this technology will basically give any consumer the ability to have out-of-home in the palm of their hand.
Cognovision is at it again. I just picked up a very interesting article about their software's tracking ability. This reminds me of a post I wrote a while back about where Google used eye tracking to determine where people were looking. It mostly is about reading people and their reactions to certain media types. In the case of customer tracking, Cognovision and others are about "[counting] faces and people.”
Haroon Mirza, director of business development at CognoVision stated the following regarding the system, its features, and capabilities:
“Think of our technology as a pulse for a business. We detect and count people as they walk around and shop in a retail environment. Also, if there's visual signage in the area, we can provide data on how people watch ads or change the ads on the screen to make them relevant to the demographic watching.”
“One key thing about our technology is that the faces are anonymous. The systems are designed with privacy in mind. We don't actually know who anybody is. The systems are actually incapable of recording any type of video footage. They just count. Nothing personal is ever recorded.”
The best part about the devices is that they are getting more and more affordable with prices dropping down around $100 for the simplest of the hardware.
NEW YORK – Leading Out-of-Home media provider, EYE, is using its network of Eyelite units in malls across America to support four charities kicking off on February 15. EYE has donated advertising space on behalf of over 50 clients, each of whom nominated one of the charities to support as part of this Out-of-Home industry charity initiative.
The four causes supported by this program are the American Heart Association (February is American Heart Month), the American Red Cross, Breastcancer.org and New York Cares. EYE selected the four organizations to support based on internal and external feedback.
Michelle Schiano, EYE USA’s Vice President of Marketing explained, “This whole concept came about after we had meetings in each of our US offices, looking at ways in which we could boost morale internally, and for the industry at large, after a particularly challenging year. There was an overwhelming consensus that everyone wanted to get involved in something charitable that they could share not just with colleagues but also clients.”
Each client nomination meant two panels were offered to the client’s charity of choice in a local mall. EYE further donated additional panels to bring the total to over 200 campaign posters in 51 malls. The campaigns will run on both static and digital units. Clients who nominated a charity were also sent additional information on how they can activate others in their companies to donate time and money to their chosen cause.
Said Nancy Fletcher President, OAAA, "The out of home advertising industry donates more than $400 million in media space a year. EYE's program is yet another example of how this medium is made up of good corporate citizens who truly care about their communities."
The campaigns each call out their cause’s unique mission. Since February is the American Heart month, the American Heart Association campaign encourages supporters to wear red to increase awareness of women’s heart health and highlights ways Americans can keep their hearts healthy. The Red Cross campaign is a simply executed, impactful general awareness campaign encouraging donations. The BreastCancer.org campaign features one survivor’s story and sends viewers to its website to get answers on frequently asked questions and concerns about the disease. And New York Cares encourages volunteerism, featuring celebrities in their campaign.
“This program demonstrates EYE’s commitment to supporting community groups, charities and not-for-profit organizations. Internationally, the initiative is known as EYE Have a Heart, EYE’s global corporate responsibility and citizenship program,” said Janine Wood, EYE’s Global Marketing Director.
To help make this initiative possible, printing services were donated by EYE’s US printing partner, Venture Printing, based out of Tennessee and posting services were donated by Squeaky Clean, based out of New York.
Total Immersion and Helios Interactive Technologies are credited for developing the face-tracking and augmented reality experience now had at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. The campaign, known as FanCouver is located in the Yaletown district of Vancouver, BC and is sponsored by Yahoo!
The display screen allows for interaction with passersby, placing various items virtually on persons walking by the display screen. Hats, Canadian tuques, hat umbrellas, and even sunglasses are seen in a virtual world on the display. Yahoo! is also keeping fans on top of the events by offering a games-dedicated website throughout the durations of the Olympic events. The website includes a mobile site and features award-winning writers, a custom broadcast studio, and the "FanCouver" section of Yaletown, which is where the showcased augmented reality display can be seen. It's combination promotion of online and digital out-of-home.
Yahoo's augmented reality experience is also enhanced by: Appearances by athletes, Live video streaming with “Fan-Cam”, Free WiFi lounge, Free hot cocoa bar, Photo booth, and Pin giveaway.
Chantilly, VA. February 15, 2010: MvixUSA, a market leader in HD entertainment, business signage solutions and networked accessible storage devices, announces the launch of its upgraded, networkable high definition (Full-1080p) digital signage players Mvix DS HDPro and Mvix DS Elite.
Mvix Digital Signage System offers a simple, low cost, turnkey solution for displaying promotional or informational videos, digital slideshows, news ticker and live TV. The Mvix Signage platform leverages the state-of-the-art, Full-HD video decoding technology to provide superior hi-def (1080p) video quality to mainstream displays and LCDs. The system is versatile, bundled with easy-to-use software, and comes fully-loaded for large variety of digital display needs
“As the digital billboards and signage screens are fast becoming de-facto standards for out-of-home advertisement and marketing, we have been focusing on upgrading our signage players” – commented Mike Mallon, the VP of business development of Mvix(USA), Inc. “We’ve been able to integrate the core technology of our award-winning, HD media platform into signage systems and we are now extending our products and solutions for the mainstream business community”.
Mvix DS HDpro supports popular 1080p HD video playback of over a dozen video formats (including H.264, AVI, MPEG etc.) on HD LCD or Plasma display via HDMI interface. Embedded modules allow live TV streaming within split/grid screen templates along with power-point slideshow, streaming RSS feeds, weather, ticker etc. “Our value proposition lies in the simplicity and affordability of our system” – said Mike. Ideally suited for SMBs, Schools, Restaurants, Mvix signage system is one of the most affordable options in the market. “In fact we have a signage player for virtually every budget.” – said Mike.
Mvix is also offering services in customizing media content for the digital signage systems that can come pre-loaded on the signage players. The contents vary from slideshows to high-def videos and multimedia presentations. Mvix provides custom design services to System Integrators and VARs.
Mvix range of digital signage players are available for immediate shipment.
Over the last month we have had an abnormal amount of requests to be added to our directory. While we do not take anyone out of the directory (we probably should do more housekeeping there), there is certainly room for many many more to be added to our digital sign directory. The directory itself contains more than 2,000 different companies working on different projects within the industry which include but are not limited to hardware, software, installation
The most interesting thing about the most recent addition is that of all of the 10 or so additions we've had in the last month, most of them requested to be added to the interactive section of the directory. This confirms some of my suspicions--at least a little--that we will be seeing more movement here. We may not see a substantial increase in revenue, but movement will most certainly occur.
Anyone wishing to be added to the directory can do so free of charge. We would love to have more entrants, it's just another way we can keep dialogue open and fresh and give potential customers the resources they are seeking when looking for solutions. Since the last additions post, we have placed about 15 more companies in the directory. This is a good sign for the industry, at least for new companies emerging. Each one of these companies reached out to us with the desire to be added to the directory listings. I'm sure there are still more to come.
We were lacking at least one thing: a place to find all the most recent articles written on the digital signage blog. Consequently, we have set up an archived page list for those wishing to see, from a bird's eye view, the posts and post topics we are continuing to compile here at the blog. The archive contains, by month, all the blog posts posted. This should be helpful for those coming to the site who have a desire to read something--which, while boring to an outsider--may provide at least some interesting related information for the industry-types. The posts may not be keeping people on the edge of their seats, but at least they may be doing what Don Marquis spoke about:
If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you. If you really make them think, they'll hate you.
So, keep thinking--at least keep think that you're thinking. We have also created a digital out-of-home archive as well. So, for those interested in seeing what has been transpiring over the last year or who wish to read more of up-coming posts that will most certainly be had, please feel free to visit.
According to the Nielsen ratings, the most recent Doritos advertisement aired during the Super Bowl was the most watched ever. When the advertisement aired at 9:30 pm on Sunday it was watched by an estimated 116.2 million people. The 2010 Super Bowl was the most watched television broadcast of all time, followed closely by the last episode of M*A*S*H* which had 106.5 million views.
While the Doritos advertisement was the most-watched it certainly may not have been the most popular. No, that award goes to the "Betty White" Snickers commercial which was actually among the least viewed of the commercials aired during the bowl game.
Both of these works are comedic genius. My personal favorite happened to be the other Doritos ad that aired during the Super Bowl which included a young boy who defends his mother and his Doritos: "Keep your hands off my momma, keep your hands off my Doritos."
Just prior to the major industry-related trade shows (whether we're talking about DSE or the Digital Signage Show), there is a ridiculous influx of press releases, most of them stating things like, "we'll be at the the expo at booth XXX, so come and visit us). They seem to be starting a bit early this time around, with companies attempting to get noticed before the competition.
I imagine there will be 30 or so more press releases, all stating something about how the company intends on attending and wants to solicit your viewership.While this is great and all, it certainly rains down a lot of PR fuzz that is a bit less effective when everyone is doing it. I'm sure it will heat up even more in a week or so when everyone's plans to merge on Vegas come closer to fruition.
Portugal-based Displax has found a way to nicely utilize technology originally developed by Visual Planet for making any surface into a multi-touch screen by using plastic nanowire film. While the concept may sound a bit like a space cadet, it certainly has a lot of potential for interactive maps, kiosks, and of course digital signage.
From a recent article, here is how the technology operates:
A grid of nanowires that can detect the presence of up to 16 fingers (on a 50-inch screen) [is placed] at any given time (that number will go up over time). When you press your finger on the grid, which is embedded in plastic, the wires send a signal showing the exact location of your finger to a controller, which can then pass the data to a computer. The plastic film can be applied to a liquid crystal display, even after the display is built. Currently, capacitive multitouch sensors have to be built into the TV’s glass during the manufacturing process. The screens can even detect if someone blows on a surface.
This technology competes directly with 3M's dispersive signal technology as well as Microsoft Surface. However, this has not stopped investing companies from jumping on board to what Displax has been doing. While I have written often on the evolving nature of interactivity, I do feel technologies like this will continue to crop up as the perceived benefit increases and uses for it expand with the demand.
