Visualisation and IT journalist, Marco Ruocco exclusively shares his views on technological and market developments seen at the latest London digital signage trade show, which took place earlier this month

The international digital signage and digital out-of-home (DooH) scene gathered at ScreenMedia Expo in London this month, for the largest show in Europe for the sector, Rucco writes.

The development of a healthy "ecosystem," or areas of concerted growth, appeared as the general trend, counteracting the fragmentation of technology, market and business approaches.

The show offered examples of maturation of technologies and widespread refinement of hardware and software in cost/performance and usability. Current industry-wide challenges like measurement are being tackled from firmer technological ground. Business approaches with a more holistic view of technology from high-definition (HD) to 3D, touchscreens and augmented reality, seemed to emerge, while the industry also attracted explicit interests from major companies of the IT world.

Stereo 3D's developing ecosystem

Stereo 3D is a highly novel technology, and after an initial showcasing of eye-catching content, it seems to be seeking integration in the industry. At ScreenMedia, stereo 3D had a diversified representation, appearing aware of the challenges of becoming mainstream, but still showing some sharp edges.

The current issue Stereo 3D faces is to increase the interoperability between screens, media players and stereo 3D content. Hyundai presented the S465MD 46-inch stereoscopic 3D screen, requiring polarised glasses and combined with a 3D software package converting 2D to 3D in real-time. Alioscopy introduced its Mix&Play software for 3D content compression and playback, which makes media players compatible with the company's autostereoscopic displays. HydraVision.tv presented AiO 3D Channel Client, a new hardware media player supporting most stereo 3D screens by default. AiO is also able to manage 2D and 3D formats together on the same page and on multiple screens.

According to Kevin Cooke from Hydravision.tv, standardisation of formats through open source solutions would help the industry overcome the fragmentation induced by each 3D screen maker developing their own proprietary software. Saif Chaundry from Stereografix, a UK-based 3D content developer, sees this as a peak time for stereo 3D business in a good season for stereo 3D content, with the upcoming Playstation3 3D titles, and some of the South Africa World Cup TV programming also being broadcast in 3D.

Incremental evolution in the background

On the side of the attention-catching 3D, companies presented updates of existing products, with formerly high-end technologies entering the lower budget solutions, and software refining the support for content management. Sony refreshed its digital signage offer with the BKM-FW55 media player, a compact add-on to Sony public display screens, introducing HD support. Sony also showed version 7 of Ziris content management software, with user interface improvements to streamline the production process. For the high-end, Sony showed Ziris Canvas, an array of freely oriented screens controlled by Playstation3 media players, combined with workstation software for content development.

A 12-screen (47-inch, full HD) Ziris Canvas was hanging over Sony's booth, while in the nearby Westfield shopping centre in London a 15-screen version enhances the foyer of the Vue cinema multiplex. For early next year, an update with RSS support is in the works. WebDT by DT Research released two new media players based on a new chipset from Nvidia: SA1300 for low-cost HD-video support and SA3200 for high-end performance.

BrightSign introduced the BrightAuthor2.0 software for its line of interactive media players. Users can now define interactive playlists through an interface made of objects and links, visually describing what content must be triggered on specific events. Brightsign's interactive media players can respond to button pressures or barcode/radio frequency identification (RFID) based object ID, also presented at the show.

A complex world from audience measurement

While displays and players were at the centre of the attention, audience measurement technologies also offered interesting insights. They address key issues for the growth of the DooH medium, mainly reaching ad delivery accountability, but the data they collect may also help develop more sophisticated networks. France-based Quividi presented its VidiReports measurement software, performing video analytics using standard cameras and limited central processing unit (CPU) resources.

Paolo Prandoni, chief scientific officer at Quividi, shared some statistics from 70 global networks monitored in the period January-December 2009. The results draw a precise picture of DooH audience: great inter-network differences; more than 50% of audience offering very short attention (less than 2 seconds); highest conversion rates for waiting areas; highest number of viewers for news clips and lowest for food ads. The data points help demistify the communication process from network to audience, but they also require careful interpretation.

US-based Stratacache presented ActiVia AM, another software-based measurement tool, designed for the Activia line of players. John Morret, senior system engineer at Stratacache indicated that the meaurement industry is in the transition from a phase 1 characterised by descriptive audience data collection, to a second phase that will also involve audience behaviour and emotions.

Visits from the IT world core

A more general picture could also be perceived besides the internal dynamics of the industry. Big IT names as Intel and Microsoft offered their explicit interpretation of the needs of the digital signage industry, already widely served by their processors and operating system products.

Intel presented a proof-of-concept interactive kiosk for retail incorporating most current technologies and demonstrating a new hardware platform. The kiosk is made of a see-through HD touchscreen, supporting augmented reality, which highlights the objects in the store and on the line of sight of the user.

Another attached HD touchscreen has a support role of video playback. A camera collects video analytics to adapt kiosk content to the user, while the download of coupons on mobile is supported via Bluetooth. The system runs on the flagship Core i7 processor by Intel, offering higher efficiencies and several features for automation. The kiosk is based on Windows Embedded Standard 7, the modular operating system derived from Windows 7 that Microsoft will be released this June. While many Windows-based digital signage players on show ran Microsoft XP or Vista, this new release can scale down to the more limited resources of embedded systems.

Evolving business formulas

At ScreenMedia, some responses of business to technological change were visible. Some industry players reflected the integrated nature of the industry by operating in a more holistic manner as strategists with a problem-solving focus, as full-spectrum service consultants, or as developers of a unified technological "ecosystem". US-based OpenEye, a retail media consultancy, aims at offering support to retail companies in the form of strategic expertise independent of implementation.

As considered by Brian Meszaros, OpenEye director of strategy and development, this approach is developing albeit slowly and mostly in the US. Joe Till, sales director of UK-based Saturn, illustrated the shift of his company from an application development slant to a new brand image of integrator of solutions, making use of its own or third party software, and with an orientation to business problems. In their work with the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT), Saturn utilised internal screensaver technology and coordinated partners to improve communication and patient care in the hospital.

US-based Symon Dacon proposes the strategy of the concerted application of multiple technologies onto complex problem scenarios. The immersive visual experience is constructed using multiple information vehicles (digital signage, kiosks, and mobile technologies), rendered as a unified platform and not in isolation.

Healthy ecosystem emerges

ScreenMedia's provided attendees with an environment of exchange where the underlying processes of the industry and the technological updates could be experienced and sampled. However, it is also important to think "out-of-the-box" and to be responsive to the wider context, as a requirement for building an healthier business ecosystem.

From a workshop, Steven Gurley of Symon Dacon rung a warning bell about the upcoming challenges of mobile convergence, considering the risks of a narrow-focus view on the market not always paying enough attention to the larger picture. The ScreenMedia event has also contributed to enwiden the perspective of the industry, and this seems as a necessary step for long-term growth.

Marco Ruocco - Marco is a freelance registered journalist based in Milan, Italy. With a degree from the University of Glasgow and a Master's from the University of California at Santa Barbara, he focuses on digital signage, from a background in visualisation research and IT-related business. He can be reached at marco.ruocco.mru@gmail.com and on www.mruproject.com.