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A technological arms race is developing as digital out-of-home operators compete for consumers’ attention, writes Mats Sjöbrand, director of Avnet Embedded North Europe.

Just two or three years ago a video clip would have been guaranteed a second glance; today it has to have real impact to catch the jaded eye of the traveller, shopper or visitor. Typical dwell times on shopping streets are just three to four seconds. How can this be extended?

Technologies pioneered in consumer electronics are being rushed into the digital-signage market to engage the consumer for valuable extra seconds. The latest are glasses-free 3D and improved touch control.

3D’s use has been restricted by the need for viewers to wear special glasses, but that is beginning to change. The Nintendo 3DS is the best-known example, although it has a very small screen; more promising for digital out-of-home are developments from the likes of Magnetic 3D, which is scaling 3D up to 57-inch screens and offering a glasses-free technology called Enabl3D.

The impact a large 3D display makes in a public area is dramatic. For example, the A&E History Channel tried Magnetic 3D technology in a vacant store window in New York City. Through eye-tracking data collection, more than 1.5m impressions were collected, of which 13.7 percent stopped to view the display, with an average dwell time of ten seconds.

Interactivity is another surefire way of drawing the viewer into the digital-signage experience. Touchscreens have long been a feature of shelf-edge and point-of-purchase displays, and touch technology is developing rapidly – but is now in danger of being superseded by motion-aware control, imported from the world of computer games.

The advantages of on-screen touch controls that can be reconfigured rapidly in software are obvious. Users can access many different functions but are only offered appropriate controls at any specific stage. Capacitive touch remains the technology of choice and performance continues to improve.

Multitouch is also now emerging as an option. Currently, screens can typically accommodate two control touches at a time, but true multitouch supporting ten or more points of contact is on the way. This will support more natural, gesture-based functionality.

Behind the scenes

Other technologies that build consumer engagement are less visible yet just as critical – communications links, for example.

Whether digital-signage installations are distributed around a store or around the country, a perpetual challenge is updating the content. It certainly doesn’t take long for a display to become just “part of the furniture” to regular visitors.

To do this effectively, some kind of wireless connectivity is essential. Fixed installations can simply be connected to an on-site Ethernet network, of course, but at the price of flexibility.

For short-range 10-100m connections, WLAN and Bluetooth are ideal. WLAN is more than equal to transmitting even large video files around a site in real time, while Bluetooth can be used to interact with viewers’ own devices, such as their mobile phones.

For more widely-distributed units, the only option until recently was to use the GSM cellular network. GPRS over GSM is the most basic wireless comms protocol in common use today, but data transfer is relatively slow. Even in its fastest form, Class 12, GPRS provides only up to 86kbit/sec upload or download speeds – probably okay for still image files, but even a short video clip could take some time to download.

The next step up is Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), which increases throughput and is software-compatible with existing GPRS M2M devices. It allows high-bandwidth data applications such as the transmission of still images or video.

Typical data rates for a Class 12 EDGE module are up to 236.8kbit/sec, which is sufficient for low-resolution video but won’t support high-quality video with sound.

Achieving this requires 3G technologies such as UMTS, which support typical upload rates up to 384kbit/sec and provide true simultaneous voice and data connections. UMTS enables real-time video with audio to be transmitted, for example.

While EDGE is available over any GSM network, 3G can only be used where the network supports it, typically in busy city-centre locations...like many of the high streets where these fast connections are enabling ever more timely and attention-grabbing content on digital out-of-home displays.

www.avnet-embedded.eu
www.magnetic3d.com

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