Contextual content
Digital signage works best when it delivers contextual visual information based on live events and current information. Content, therefore, should change based on the circumstances.
Retail digital signage is well-positioned to use different sources of content, including live data.
Hence, the medium is well-suited as a mechanism for issuing emergency notifications, whether the message is “Have you seen this child?” or “Please evacuate the building.” Deployed alongside audio speaker announcements, e-mail alerts, automated voice-dialing systems and text messaging, it provides an additional channel for mass notifications.
The Vancouver Convention Centre uses digital signs—of many different sizes and configurations—in this way. The network is connected to the building’s fire alarm system. In case of a fire, the screens display a “Don’t panic!” message and indicate specific zones of the building to be evacuated, providing corresponding wayfinding information to help people find their closest exits. In this way, digital signage is used to manage traffic flow.
At York University in Toronto, the digital signage system is operated by the security department itself, as the main purpose is to instantly display alerts, hazard warnings and emergency messages as needed. The rest of the time, the screens display upcoming events at the university, news items and weather forecasts, among other data of interest to students.
Smarter data
Digital signage is particularly well-positioned to use different sources of data in this way. The basic architecture of a network not only allows dedicated content to be designed, scheduled and played, but can also add live data, allowing screens to respond to the conditions around them.
This data can come from many places and be distributed in different ways. An individual media player can respond to local conditions through a camera, sensor or switch. An external data source, such as a news feed, can create or trigger specific content. And finally, internal data can flow into the network from a central source, whether it is a floor plan, an event calendar, an inventory of resources or a database.
All of this information can be connected through a common structure, enabling it to be used together. In cases like the Vancouver Convention Centre, this process is highly automated. In an emergency, the best interface is no interface.
At the Bell Store, digital signs are integrated with the tethering security system for mobile phones. When a customer picks up a phone, it triggers on-screen content accordingly.
The key to benefiting from ‘smart content’ that is event-driven and automatically responds to specific conditions is to define rules for metadata—i.e. information about information. Content needs to be tagged so it will be used properly, allowing the digital signage software to change its parameters and data sources on the fly.
This not only saves money by taking labour costs out of ongoing digital signage management and, as mentioned before, avoiding the need to invest in other systems, but it also—and more importantly—enables new security- and safety-related applications. The Vancouver Convention Centre’s ‘smart wayfinding’ system is one example, determining the safest paths for visitors to take during an emergency, based on dynamic factors.
Every organization is awash in data today. The challenge is making that data actionable.
Doug Bannister is founder, CEO and director of software development for Omnivex, a digital signage network management software developer based in Concord, Ont. For more information, visit www.omnivex.com.
