A new DAWN for Pearson Airport

by Matthew | 20 February 2012 4:11 pm

By Peter Saunders
In November 2011, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) announced the deployment of the Digital Advertising and Wayfinding Network (DAWN) at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, which it manages. The network currently consists of 18 kiosk units, installed throughout Terminals 1 and 3, which combine ad-based digital signage with interactive touch screens to help guests locate departure gates, amenities, shops and restaurants.

As a multipurpose project, DAWN has many stakeholders. Clear Channel Outdoor Canada, for example, was looking for an opportunity to bring larger-format digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising into the terminals, while GTAA saw a need to improve wayfinding for passengers.

“There were two initiatives, but they aligned nicely and one unit could address both of them,” explains Sergio Pulla, GTAA’s senior manager of advertising and partnerships. “The project took numerous consultations with all stakeholders.”

“We are pleased with the functionality as a guest-service, wayfinding and advertising network,” says John Jory, Clear Channel’s president.

GTAA and Clear Channel worked with several partners, including Arium Design, Jibestream and Gridcast Digital. Montreal-based Arium designed and manufactured the kiosks, Toronto-based Jibestream developed the touch-screen wayfinding application based on its NovoMap software platform and Gridcast—also based in Toronto—integrated the various technologies together.

In addition, they had to work with many tenants in the airport, who would also be represented in the kiosks’ content. If passengers want to grab a coffee on the way to their gate, for instance, they can look up any cafés along their route.

“While our static wayfinding signs already give passengers directions to their gates, DAWN lets them know more about what’s on both sides of the security screening areas,” says Pulla. “They can find elevators, escalators and washrooms, but they can also use a search function to look up specific products.”

Early stages
Development of the project began in mid-2010. GTAA researched passengers’ use of Pearson terminals, including the decision points where they need information. And as Arium designed the kiosk monuments, it was important to ensure they would be durable and inviting for people to use.

“Design and functionality followed parallel paths,” says Pulla. “It was important to put the passengers first, to see how they interact with their surroundings. This all factored into the creative execution.”

A single unit was set up in Terminal 1’s domestic flight area in December 2010 to serve as a pilot project, allowing the various stakeholders to check how effective the format would be and what might need to be changed.

“We wanted the units to be useful without being too distracting,” says Pulla.

The pilot ran through early 2011, with discussions of full deployment beginning in June.

An added dimension
One major change that followed the pilot testing was on the part of Jibestream, which rebuilt the maps using a three-dimensional (3-D) graphics engine. This allowed for a more intuitive interface, whereby users can search through and manipulate airport wayfinding data while maintaining a perspective based on their current position.

“The map gives you the correct perspective, as though you’re looking ahead from the kiosk,” says Chris Wiegand, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) of Jibestream. “As such, the application is now oriented differently on each side of the kiosk.”

The map was also changed so as to be very ‘clean,’ with details only added as the user requests them.

“The map is the canvas,” says Wiegand. “If you push a specific ‘button’ in the legend, for example, it brings up all of the washroom locations. The idea is to prevent the map from becoming too cluttered with information at any given time.”

In contrast to this surface simplicity, Jibestream had to input a wealth of information behind the scenes, to reflect the diversity of services and amenities throughout the terminals in a useful manner.

“The system is designed to be intuitive for users, so thousands of keywords have been entered into the network’s database,” says Wiegand. “You can search by word or category. A guest might be looking to buy earphones, for example, and the map will show everywhere they are available. This approach makes it easier for the airport tenants to get noticed, as they will be displayed more frequently than if users had to search for them by name.”

The larger screen shows ads that Clear Channel has sold on the basis of time-per-day, but the touch screens can also bring up rich-media ads based on their relevance to the users’ search terms and wayfinding paths.

“If someone is looking for a gate number corresponding to a flight to Florida, for example, our system will detect that and could display an ad for an attraction in Florida,” Wiegand explains, “or promotions for stores they will pass along their way to the gate. It’s one-to-one marketing.”

The software also allows GTAA to repurpose content for other media, including web-based, print and mobile communications.

The finer details
When rolling out more units at strategic decision points throughout the terminals, GTAA made sure not to block important sightlines, both for passengers looking for their destinations and retailers who need to be easily seen.

“The numerous consultations with stakeholders are why this process took so long,” says Pulla. “We wanted to get everything right.”

Gridcast continues to monitor and manage DAWN to ensure consistent uptime and quick technical support when needed. And Jibestream meets with GTAA and other stakeholders on a regular basis, as the airport tenant data is constantly being refreshed.

“The project has evolved with ongoing updates,” says Wiegand. “We continue to post new rich media, such as ads for gift-wrapping that were introduced just before Christmas.”

The dynamic nature of the medium is expected to save money for GTAA in comparison to reprinting static materials.

“For us, wayfinding is a matter of continual improvement,” says Pulla, “and we always have new tenants coming on board. We still have static maps that we keep updated, but digital content can be changed overnight.”

The NovoMap system tracks and reports trends in how the kiosks are being used, providing valuable insight the airport. This data includes which types of information are being searched for most frequently.

The kiosks’ capabilities can also evolve. They have been equipped with cameras that are not yet in use, but can enable ‘virtual concierge’ services, whereby a user could speak live to an operator, face-to-face.

“This has been done before with other clients and has been indicated by GTAA as a priority for the future,” says Wiegand. “The platform can be integrated with a wide variety of applications and technologies.”

In such ways, digital expertise can help GTAA reach new objectives and improve the wayfinding experience for passengers throughout the airport.

With files from Jibestream. For more information, visit www.jibestream.com[7].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/a-new-dawn-for-pearson-airport/

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