Digital Signage: Wayfinding’s new direction

by all | 28 July 2013 8:30 am

By Peter Saunders
While digital signage has now reached a broad variety of markets and applications, wayfinding represents one of the specific fields where the technology offers the most significant opportunities for changes and advancements. This is because the act of navigating a built environment is, by its very nature, dynamic.

“Traditional wayfinding has used static signage, which must serve all needs with one image,” says Jeff Collard, president of Omnivex, which develops digital signage software in Concord, Ont. “Digital signage, on the other hand, can better enable someone to choose their own path.”

Changing times
As the notion of wayfinding has evolved over the years, professionals in fields like signmaking and environmental graphic design (EGD) have studied various systems and their results. Their efforts have yielded a better understanding of a visitor’s needs upon entering a space for the first time, as well as when revisiting that space after changes have taken place.

“Traditional wayfinding offered simple, predetermined messages,” says Doug Bannister, Omnivex’s CEO and director of software development. “The information was general and it was hard to distribute updates. Some of these signs were later converted to digital signs, but were still not very flexible.”

The issue of flexibility is important because many facilities with wayfinding sign systems need frequent updates.

“When things change and events get moved, such as a seminar in a conference centre, you want your signs updated automatically,” says Collard. “That’s more cost-effective than changing them out by hand.”

Part of the challenge is first recognizing what digital signage can achieve that static signage cannot. Bannister and Collard point to examples like the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), which shares a campus with Durham College in Oshawa, Ont.

“When UOIT deployed their digital signage network, they wanted to provide wayfinding, but also student information and event listings,” Bannister explains. “They realized they could divide the screen layout into different areas for different departments to manage.”

To meet the needs of some 8,000 students in two buildings, UOIT turned to ‘smart content’ for its digital signage network, allowing the on-screen layout to react to both preset rules and changing conditions. Thus, the signs display not only updated news and weather forecasts, but also live event updates and—by tying into the campus’ security system—emergency announcements. Even upcoming classes, after all, may not always be held in the same locations as in the past, so the signs can be updated to reflect this.

“Each screen in the network can deliver a unique message, with content that is contextual and relevant to the viewer,” says Bannister. “You just need a system in place to send that information to each screen.”

Content plus context
An increasing number of facility managers are putting such systems in place, using advanced software to ensure their digital signage is truly dynamic.

“Most digital signage software has been presentation-oriented, but this trend is more about bringing in relevant information from different sources,” says Collard.

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC), for example, ties its digital signage network into its reservations system, so changes trigger on-screen updates, while the Vancouver Convention Centre (VCC) ties its screen content in with its emergency notification system. In some malls, airports and train stations, directory signs are automatically updated when new shops open or old ones close.

In addition to connecting with existing sources of information, some facility managers go further by installing location-specific sensors to help enhance their systems’ wayfinding functionality.

“There are a lot of factors that can come into play, like escalators that change direction at different times of day or emergency routes that come into effect if there’s a fire,” says Collard. “Databases and back-office servers can send this information to the screens’ media player personal computer (PCs). This way, you can suggest different routes, such as one that doesn’t go outside because it’s raining or doesn’t go through a dark parking garage at night. Context is added to the content.”

“You can classify locations in a database and then define rules for the content,” says Bannister. “Then the system can map through or around various ‘dynamic status points’ to optimize traffic flow.”

Adding interactivity
Another factor that has helped digital signage achieve new advances in wayfinding is interactivity. Just as individual screens can display customized content, based on the context of their location, so too can visitors now access content customized to their individual needs, such as special route recommendations for disabled people.

“Interactivity may involve cameras, radio-frequency identification (RFID), gestures, touch, card readers or bar codes on employee badges,” says Collard. “In a baseball stadium, for example, you could have fans scan their tickets to find their seat on an on-screen map. Or you can even let people send maps to their mobile phones, so they have their wayfinding information on the go.”

With files from Omnivex. For more information, visit www.omnivex.com[3].

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/wayfindings-new-direction/

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