This morning at Digital Signage World, Intel were showing off their proof of concept augmented reality digital display. It uses a combination of real time analytics, augmented reality and comprehensive touchscreen technology to allow users to engage with the display to get more from their shopping experience. Every shopping centre should get one now.
The digital signage works in two parts. Firstly there’s the LCD side, which shows off a selection of paid advertisements. The LCD will cycle through the ads, or if a user sees something they like, they can use the touchscreen to scroll through all the ads on offer to see the one they want.
But the more exciting part of the technology is the augmented reality side, which uses a holographic-like display to show real time information on a clear touchscreen, which allows two simultaneous users to interact with the display, getting real time information and deals, which can then be sent to a mobile phone for when you get to the checkout.
The proof of concept unit on display was using a projector shining onto a mirror to create the touchscreen on a clear sheet of glass, although Intel have said that their are OEMs currently developing clear display panels that will do away with the need for a discreet projector.
In addition to the ability to browse by products and search, there’s also a camera in the unit which uses face detection technology for analytics, which will determine whether or not people using the screen are male or female and an approximate demographic, and can then use that information for targeting advertisers.
According to Jose Avalos, Digital Signage director at Intel, we’re roughly 2-3 years away from seeing these kinds of displays pop up in shopping centres, but they are definitely coming. Which means we’re closer to a full Minority Report-type screen than ever before.