NRF: Intel Digital Signage

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Intel shows interactive ds concept with LCD display and holographic glass at NRF.
 
At NRF, Intel showed an interactive, 7-foot-6-inch Intel Intelligent Digital Signage Concept with an LCD display and holographic glass to demonstrate how technology can enhance the retail customer experience with a multi-touch, multi-user interface.
 
The concept digital signage demonstrates how this technology can provide retailers with a competitive advantage, and how it can impact customer loyalty by providing targeted, interactive content to consumers.
 
Optimised digital signage solutions based on the Intel Core i7 processor and Windows 7-based Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 2011 platform aim to better standardise a fragmented market.
 
First revealed by Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, the demonstration emulates a virtual brick-and-mortar store setting where customers may use the multi-touch holographic screen to explore merchandise, find out about promotions, submit feedback on products, read customer reviews, view past purchasing histories and share what they have discovered with their friends via social media and mobile phone integration.
 
Multiple consumers can use this side-by-side window display simultaneously to explore augmented reality-enabled maps of each floor of the store, on which retailers can superimpose images such as coupons and sales promotions next to the product visualisations on the glass, improving the customer’s shopping experience.
 
“As stores seek more competitive advantages over online retailers, digital signage has become a valuable technology for dispersing targeted and interactive content to shoppers,” said Joe Jensen, general manager, Intel Embedded Computing Division.
 
“We therefore designed the Intel Intelligent Digital Signage Concept to show that retailers can engage and interact with consumers in a more personal and compelling manner through new usage models such as augmented reality and interactive product explorations, which in turn could yield an increase in revenue and customer loyalty.”
 
Intel’s digital signage concept also brings a new opportunity for advertisers through the use of anonymous video analytics. As a viewer looks at the system screen, the built-in camera technology analyses data such as gender and age, audience composition, time-of-day and other criteria, which enable the system to display tailored content and graphics based on estimated demographics. The system anonymously sends audience information to advertisers who can use that information to understand the type of content and messages that are most popular with viewers. This, in turn, helps advertisers target their advertising to maximise the impact on the audience.
 
To address the need for a more streamlined solution, Intel also announced at NRF a strategic relationship with Microsoft to develop an open-standards validated platform for digital signage applications.
 
“With the Windows Embedded and Intel platform, we will provide industries such as the digital signage market with scalable and interoperable solutions that enable applications with rich graphics and interactive capabilities,” said Kevin Dallas, general manager, Windows Embedded Business Unit Microsoft. “With this solution, we look forward to delivering endless possibilities to the digital signage industry and beyond.”
 
The media player platform, integrated in Intel’s concept, is running on the recently released Intel Core i7 processor with Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 2011 platform optimized for digital signage applications. The jointly developed platform is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2010.