We exhibited at Digital Signage Expo 2015, and though we spent most of the time at the Innovator Zone touting Enplug’s award-winning software, we also had a chance to check out the other exhibitors. There were more than 200 exhibitors total, but these 12 were the ones that stood out the most, either for their beauty, practicality or both. (And some were just plain fun to look at.)
Here’s Enplug’s Best of DSE 2015!
MultiTaction
The 12-screen, 90 degree-curved iWall from MultiTaction was arguably the biggest hit at DSE. With touch technology seamlessly integrated into the panels that allows for unlimited simultaneous users, it was one of the more impressive feats of technology at the Expo. The display was not only beautiful, but the touch was among the most responsive we saw. According to MultiTaction’s website, the interactive wall has curvatures of up to 360 degrees and widths as much as 96 feet.
We also had fun testing out MultiTaction’s Red Bull air hockey table, which uses enriched reality technology to detect real-life objects that can interact with digital objects. (For example, Red Bull cans placed anywhere on the display are used as bumpers for the digital hockey puck. And you can only use Red Bull cans—no Coke or Pellegrino.)
CloudCasting
When turned off, CloudCasting’s iFace Digital Mirror looks like any other mirror. But when it’s turned on, it’s also a display for digital content. We can totally see the practical uses for this in retail stores, salons, gyms and bars—all places where you’d see mirrors anyway. Why not add value to those spaces by delivering messages where you know they’ll be seen?
Intel and Memomi
Turns out there are several ways to use digital displays as mirrors. Intel and Memomi demoed a memory mirror which reads body gestures and uses a mobile app to control what you see on screen. Created with dressing rooms in mind (the technology is already used in Neiman Marcus stores), the memory mirror allows you to record yourself spinning around and watch a playback to see what outfits looks like from behind. You can also share what you see in the mirror for feedback from friends or change the color of your clothing, do side-by-side views and checkout from your phone.
LG-MRI
Just across from our own booth was LG-MRI’s ThruVu transparent digital cooler, which was a hit with attendees. The Budweiser-branded fridge door featured moving graphics which were transparent enough that the stock of bottled water and canned sodas (which attendees helped themselves to) inside were still visible. We saw lots of people opening the door to check out the back of the LCD display, which displays full HD content on a backlit, protective glass overlay.
Taggalo
This little device should make anyone looking for a way to track the ROI of their displays excited. With motion and eye-tracking, Taggalo provides analytics, demographics and look-through rates of passersby in retail stores using sensors and iBeacons. We love it because it’s also user-friendly—there’s an app for easy set-up, the device is plug-and-play ready, and analytics are cloud-based, meaning you can analyze your store’s performance from anywhere. With the clean, modern design and branding, it seems to have the whole package.
AOTO
In a room full of thousands of screens, they can all start to look the same after a while. Not so with AOTO’s M1.2 LED 8k 24-bit display. This massive display delivered crystal-clear images and used just one player for the entire display. We couldn’t keep our eyes off of it.
Elevate
Emoji World was another big hit at DSE for those who wanted to get a little playful. The interactive technology from Elevate used facial recognition of people standing in front of the display to transform their heads into emojis—like a cat or Homer Simpson. It was also a great use for the #DSEselfie hashtag the event promoted to attendees (and it certainly added some interesting visuals to that mix).
MINIX
The small but powerful open-source digital media players from MINIX caught our eye because of their size, speed and sleek design. The MINIX Neo Z64 boots in 10-15 seconds, runs Android KitKat and features a built-in automatic refresh rate switching at 32GB of storage. It’s powered by an Intel 64-bit processor and lets you customize the branding (for a fee, of course).
3M
One of the more fun products to interact with was 3M’s 4mm heat-tempered 55-inch display which was used to demo a digital foosball table. The rugged screen’s glass goes to the edge of the display, which is just 2.5 inches thick and allows for up to 60 simultaneous touches. When not being used as a breakroom battle machine, it could be great for collaborative projects and can even withstand the occasional coffee ring.
ViewSonic
ViewSonic’s 50-inch ePoster digital kiosk got a new update with a four-point touch 50-inch display. The Full HD 1080p-resolution, tempered and scratch-resistant screen was slim and attractive; plus, it’s rugged enough for heavy use. Enhancing it even further content-wise was that it was powered with Enplug’s software for interactive, real-time social media content, which attendees loved.
Ayuda
Ayuda had a big presence at DSE in 2015 (attendees wore their branded lanyards around the convention), and the ad tech company announced new product additions to its platform for DOOH media owners, including a supply-side platform that lets sellers create “packages of targeted impression inventory” published on various marketplaces, like auction and performance-based marketplaces, controlled by the seller. They also released an iOS app that media buyers can use to make purchases.
Google
There was a lot of talk about how much of a presence Google had at DSE this year (a 40×40 booth, to be precise), and besides hosting a number of software companies using the Chrome platform for their own devices, Google announced the release of Chrome Sign Builder. This capability helps users “create intelligent digital signs that are easy to build, schedule and deploy.” We liked their Google trends display (something we suggest displaying on your digital signage here).