Digital Signage: The next wave of ambient interactivity

by all | 12 February 2016 11:41 am

By Michael Mascioni
Ambient interactivity—i.e. the embedding or direct integration of interactive tables, windows or other dynamic features into the physical environment—has become a more significant part of the digital signage industry in recent years. Not long ago, it represented a remote outpost of the art world that was only just emerging as a tool for out-of-home (OOH) advertising, entertainment and education (see Sign Media Canada, November 2013[1]). Today, many projects have been launched around the world that allow the public to control lighting, sound and/or other ambient effects and, with regard to digital signage, create or customize on-screen content in real time, e.g. using collaborative video walls.

The scope of ambient interactivity in public places will continue to expand dramatically over the next five years as a myriad of current and new technologies combine to enable more vivid, dynamic and extensive experiences for users.

This trend is—and will be—particularly important in attracting younger audiences, who are accustomed to an ‘always on’ digital technology lifestyle. They have high expectations for continuous and fluid interactivity, shifting from one digital device to another effortlessly and seamlessly.

In the future, a wider range of ambient interactive ‘forms’ will allow the public to change the aforementioned effects and content more frequently and in more diverse ways. Examples will include laser poles, columns and wands, gesture-control armbands and haptic feedback controllers.

Triggering content
Among the key developments in the evolution of ambient interactivity for public spaces is
the automated display of content specifically geared to the audiences at those locations and their preferences. One such manifestation is the concept of ‘reflective digital signs,’ which gauge their audiences’ preferences for particular content via facial recognition techniques.
A screen in a museum, for example, might display youth-oriented content when it detects the presence of children.

Another iteration of this technique that may become very common in the near future is the detection of content being viewed by passersby on their smartphones, tablets and other devices. Along the same lines, the detection of audience interest in specific content will also likely extend beyond a particular location to other locations, via networked media.

Already, developers have integrated large-screen interactive displays into tables and walls with content that is ‘activated’ by smaller devices like smartphones. The large-format displays are also often modelled after these familiar consumer devices, to help make the public feel comfortable using them, but can be further enhanced to deliver more immersive experiences.

Personalizing projections
Other examples of ambient interactivity have involved three-dimensional (3-D) digital projections on buildings, water and other surfaces.

In addition to sharing images of these projections via social media and overlaying special effects on them with smartphones and tablets, users in the near future will be able to interact with them through augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) systems. They may even be able to use laser-based systems to overlay special effects on the actual projections, including images of themselves, in real time.

Wearable AR and VR systems could become common in museums and amusement parks, for example, with customized adventure and game scenarios allowing visitors to interact with 3-D projections in rooms, pools and other group spaces.

Some basic indications of these possible experiences can be gleaned from recently developed AR systems like Magic Leap and HoloLens. Magic Leap uses glasses to beam light onto the user’s retinae, captures real-world images and overlays virtual graphics—such as fictional characters—onto the real lenses. HoloLens, a wireless ‘smart glasses’ system developed by Microsoft, similarly allows users to interact with realistic, high-definition (HD) 3-D images by incorporating gesture recognition, voice recognition and spatial mapping capabilities. Introduced in 2015, the system offers many potential applications, including business-related ones.

Another variation on digital projection involves robotic drones. Professors Jürgen Scheible of Stuttgart Media University and Walter Fichter of University of Stuttgart have collaborated in recent years to develop Displaydrone, which combines a flying ‘multicopter’ drone with a video projector and a mobile phone, enabling interactive projections on walls or other surfaces that can quickly and flexibly be deployed in open space, with the angle and direction of projections adjusted ‘on the fly.’

From digital to physical
There are also opportunities for more kinetic interactive displays in the future. Some of the possibilities have already been demonstrated by systems like HypoSurface, a wall whose entire surface can be triggered by Internet feeds, users’ gestures, sound and other means to display dynamic content physically, by moving and shifting.

As the concept of ambient interactivity continues to evolve further, applications will also broaden to incorporate 3-D printing, whereby visitors to public spaces will be able to add to the built environment by developing new objects on the spot. In this way, they will be able to reshape the space with the addition of sculptures and other objects. Microsoft’s aforementioned HoloLens system, for example, allows viewed objects to be scanned and sent to a device for 3-D printing.

There may also be a greater role for visitor-controlled robots in ambient interactive experiences. People could direct them by using gestural sensors, smartphones, AR and/or VR systems.

A pervasive trend
In light of these trends, ambient interactivity appears destined to become much more pervasive, diverse and expansive in public spaces in the next few years. Some of these experiences are likely to be offered on a premium basis or as part of admission fees for museums, location-based entertainment centres and other leisure facilities, as they seek new revenue sources and new ways to attract more visitors. As more scenarios are played out, the digital signage industry will become involved in ever-richer consumer engagement opportunities, everywhere from public parks to retail stores.

Michael Mascioni is a digital media market research consultant, writer and conference planner. This article is based on a chapter he contributed to The Future of Business, which was published in June 2015. For more information, contact him via e-mail at mmmascioni@aol.com[2].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/digital-signage-the-next-wave-of-ambient-interactivity/

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