Most digital signs play video or text loops. These loops automatically repeat or run on a time-based schedule. As a result, the signage can be predictable. If you’ve seen the images a couple times, you know what’s coming.

Jonathan Einav and Ben Kidron, founders of the Israeli company DigiGage, Ltd., have solved this predictability problem with their new software platform.

The platform, in essence, gives the screen life. It’s almost as if the content had a mind if its own, and was aware who was looking at it and what was happening around it.

To see what the platform looks like in action, take a look at the video below.

 You’ll see a laptop opened flat inside an elevator. On the laptop screen is a school of fish. One fish, the yellow one in the center, is branded with an orange Nike logo.

The elevator starts to descend, and as it does, something odd happens: all of the fish seem to be left behind, except for the Nike fish, which plunges along with the elevator as it descends. That lead fish follows the direction of the elevator.

How does it work?

DigiGage creates a 3D picture space on the screen. That picture space is populated by “objects” (in this case, the ocean is the picture space and the fish are the objects).

Each object is programmed with a set of behavioral patterns. The behaviors display themselves in a randomized order. Each object is also programmed with a level of awareness, which determines how responsive it is to external stimuli.

Both the objects and the picture space respond to the screen’s external environment in real time.

DigiGage software works in conjunction with a PC and sensors. The sensors pick up movement in the space around the screen, as well as movement of the screen display itself; the content (picture space and objects) responds accordingly.

So, the sign automatically interacts with any passersby.

Objects are customizable, because they are created with standard 3D design tools and imported into the platform. The picture space, awareness levels, and behavioral patterns are also customizable, making the possibilities for DigiGage’s implementation limitless.

 

photo courtesy of Gladys Santiago

vitaminwater recently released a new ten-calorie drink called vitaminwater10. To introduce it, the company didn’t spend millions of dollars on television commercials. Instead, they took over an empty retail location and opened a pop-up store.

The store, called “vitaminwater10 des10ation NYC,” opened on April 2nd with a red carpet kickoff party hosted by Carmen Electra.

Then, for the following ten days, the pop-up offered SoHo shoppers a place to hang. The store featured couches and refrigerators stocked with free samples of the new flavors. Visitors also entertained themselves with free WiFi, Nintendo Wii, foosball, a photo booth, and a revolving cast of DJs. In the store’s window, a live model demonstrated simple ways people could burn ten calories, including taking a shower and blowing bubbles.

On April 13th, the store closed. What did vitaminwater get for its ten days?

Ten days is longer than most promotional events, so it provided time to get people into the space, experience the brand, and try the flavors.

Ten days is also, in some sense, short. The time frame gave customers a sense of urgency. If they didn’t visit the store immediately, they ran the risk of missing out on the experience.

The pop-up also allowed vitaminwater an economical way to test customer response to its products. Temporarily taking over a vacant retail location is certainly cheaper than launching a television campaign, or rolling out a product nationwide to find that it misses the mark with customers.

vitaminwater is a recent pop-up example, but the concept has been around for years.

We’ve all seen Halloween stores that pop up in empty locations with the sole goal of selling product. These near-makeshift stores don’t even care if you know their name. They just want to get rid of as many clown wigs and vampire fangs as possible. These stores are strictly sales-driven.

Then, there are examples like Nike who, a few years ago, opened a pop-up location with the goal of selling 250 pairs of Zoom LeBron IV NYC basketball shoes. Why 250? That’s how many dollars the shoes cost. This pop-up was both promotional and sales-driven.

vitaminwater, however, didn’t sell any product. They gave it away. They used the pop-up space as a way to build brand equity.

Regardless of how it’s used, a pop-up store makes the store itself a limited edition item. It becomes as rare and desirable as a limited edition product.

As more retail space becomes vacant and companies look for more interesting ways to reach customers, we expect to see an increasing number of pop-up stores popping up.