Rocking the Tobacco Dock: NEC Showcase preview

May 13, 2013 by

Now in its fifth year, the NEC Showcase 2013 will be held at East London’s Tobacco Dock, seeing NEC partners teaming up once again to demonstrate how their digital signage offerings work in different ecosystems. Visitors will reportedly be able to see more than 100 solutions represented through the two floors of the show across eleven applications zones: DOOH, retail, education, transport, 3D and leisure, 3D cinema, media, healthcare, control rooms, corporate communications and the NEC innovation zone.

London's Tobacco Dock was built in the 19th century as a secure warehousing for tobacco arriving from the New World

London’s Tobacco Dock was built in the 19th century as a secure warehousing for tobacco arriving from the New World



Since its conception, the showcase has focused on providing end users with a tangible example of what it possible in a real-world situation, and an opportunity to talk directly with manufacturers and system integrators in each vertical market.



“The showcase is a unique event; where else can you see more than 50 different AV and IT vendors working together to show complete solutions?” asks Simon Jackson, vice-president at NEC Display Solutions. “We already have 600 people registered to visit.”



NEC itself is using its event as a launchpad for an 80″ (203cm) screen in its entry-level E series, plus the new P series 70″ (178cm) display with NFC and NEC NOC, a remote service network operating centre. Also new this year is a sensor-driven signage offering, the NEC Leaf Engine, co-developed with NEC Laboratories in Heidelberg.



“We’ve added a couple of NEC zones so we can show off our new technology but the really exciting zones are where the collaboration takes place,” enthuses Jackson. “Look out for retail and 3D – they should be fun.”



Ultra or 4K will feature heavily at the showcase, promised as a complete workflow. Content will be filmed live, edited, exported and displayed around the event. This will be shown on 2×2 and 3×3 video walls and a new high-end laser projector. What content? Watch out for the dancing girls!



Welcoming visitors at the entrance hall with a projection-mapped tunnel will be 7th Sense. Using its Delta media server solution it will show fully uncompressed 4K content on the NEC 4K projector. Richard Brown, principal engineer at 7th Sense, comments: “This is our first showcase and it provides us with an opportunity to demo our products as an integrated solution with NEC’s displays. The uncompressed nature of our video servers means that we can show them off at their best.”



Regular exhibitor PSCo will exhibit a videowall using five different screen formats. Driven by a Harris player, the wall will be arranged in a structure designed by Unicol and put together by PSCo’s engineers. It’s not all about what’s flashy, of course: Unicol is supporting NEC Displays throughout the show with its mounting solutions. There will be a number of coloured Axia lectern stands supporting 46″ (117cm) screens and Axia Titan stands built to carry 100″ (254cm) screens on different videowall arrays.



A newcomer at the showcase is Monster Media, whose managing director Liam Boyle is excited by what the event can offer. “Partnering with NEC is the perfect marriage of intelligent technology solutions and practiced content creation. One thing is to have the shiniest-looking kit on the block; another is to provide a valuable experience for the consumer.”



Exhibiting for the fourth time, White Space will be showing its latest version of 3D-Hub at the retail, education and events zones. 3D-Hub is an interactive media player with 3D content. Its features include rotating, exploding, animating, highlighting and labelling media. The 3D-Hub also works with regular 2D displays, which can be viewed in stereo 3D using Anaglyph or ColorCode 3D technology.



Also looking to take advantage of NEC’s outstretched arm to end users, IHSE will have a presence for the first time. IHSE is a manufacturer of advanced KVM and video extenders, which allow the remote location of auxiliary computer consoles at very long distances from device. Its KVM matrix switches enable different computers to be accessed through one or more consoles – all equipment vital to larger installations.



NEC is also giving visitors a voice. Attendees can submit questions upon registration or at the show via touchscreens, which will be displayed on screens across the show, offering food for thought. Running alongside the Showcase will be a conference organised by DailyDOOH, with ten speakers, in morning and afternoon blocks. And when the show’s done, don’t forget to prepare for a well-deserved drink reception after 4pm – which, some say, is when the business really begins.

First published 13 May 2013 – Output

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NEC Showcase 2012 at the O2

April 30, 2012 by

NEC Display Solutions Europe organized its third Showcase at the O2. Its doors opened at 10am and there was a queue to get in. Last year, the showcase was held at Battersea Power Station. The exhibition space was smaller, brighter, and very hot; but it was also well attended.

NEC has been a partner of the O2 since it re-opened in 2008 and it managed to get a prime position for its showcase. The hall, which was at least 50% bigger than last year’s, was divided in nine zones: DOOH; Education; Professional Office; 3D & Leisure; Innovation; Colour; Healthcare; Transport and Retail – these last two were new zones. The zones were consistent with current vertical markets and all but two, featured digital out of home solutions, demonstrating how widely used this is.

Visitors were able to meet face-to-face with a total of 47 partners. Some of these companies included Intel, U-Touch, Smart, Scala and Onelan; and internal NEC units such the IT solutions division.

Seeing the different technologies integrated in real life situations was ideal to provide NEC partners the chance to show existing and potential clients their latest solutions. Half of the total attendees were end users.

At the show was also VUKUNET, NEC’s automated ad delivery platform and marketplace for DOOH media. VUKUNET was formally launched in Europe this year at ISE 2012 in Amsterdam, and at the NEC showcase it made its UK debut.

Dirk Hülsermann, manager of DOOH Solutions for NEC Display Solutions Europe, did a presentation at The Screen Briefings* conference, which was held also at the O2 at the same time as the NEC showcase. He said: “Until now, there was no way for an advertising agency to communicate with all the different networks – because they speak different electronic languages and also because the market is too fragmented. For the first time, VUKUNET brings together advertising agencies and digital-out-of-home media owners in one single cloud-based solution. Media owners can aggregate their networks into a nationwide buy with VUKUNET. VUKUNET turns any internet connected screen into an advertising face, which can generate incremental revenue for the screen owner.”

VUKUNET’s first UK partnership is with Wonderworks Walkway Media Ltd. The contract will see Walkway Media supply a DOOH, signage, information and advertising network across a target of 30 mall locations in 2012 commencing with the recent installation at several independent sites, including the Criterion shopping malls at Slough, Dalston and Sutton.

New to the show was Wonderworks 3D, also part of the Wonderworks group but separate from Walkway Media, was welcoming visitors by the entrance of the showcase with a ‘Pepper Ghost’ holographic display. Using Mussion’s Eyeliner film screen, and an HD NEC projector, the company has packaged the holographic solution to be used in luxury shop windows and other applications where companies want to wow their clients.

Matrox Graphics, a manufacturer of graphics cards, had its finger in the pie in several zones at the showcase. Its high-performance Mura MPX Series video wall controller boards and M-Series multidisplay graphics cards were featured in a variety of environments as go-to multidisplay solutions.

At PSCo’s corner the Matrox’s Mura was integrated on a four-by-four video wall made up of 16 of NEC Display Solutions’ new X463UN 46-inch, ultra-narrow-bezel displays. The setup stood at 4.5 meters high in portrait mode at the show’s DOOH zone. The Professional Office of the Future zone, featured a two-by-two, Mura-powered video wall leveraging an Exterity codec as well as a player from VisioSign. Matrox was integrated in video conferencing solutions, working with HD VC LifeSize; in transport information displays and others.

Matrox is just a good example of how NEC partners work together across the board to enable great solutions.

Over 850 people, from clients to AV professionals – and some of NEC competitor companies, walked the floor and networked at this year’s NEC Showcase.

*As mentioned before, the Screen Briefings took place simultaneously at the O2’s Cineworld Cinema. There was a morning session presenting: ‘A Digital Journey’ and ‘Digital Engagements’; and in the afternoon there was the VUKUNET presentation and some applied technologies talks touching upon: ‘Augmented Reality’, presented by Grand Visual, ‘The Wolrd According to 3D’ from White Space and Burner Mobile gave an insight on ‘Mobile Interaction.’

 

First published on Output magazine

 

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JCDecaux shares findings on airport media

March 12, 2012 by

 

The study found that British airports and their passengers are more accustomed and receptive to digital media propositions

The study found that British airports and their passengers are more accustomed and receptive to digital media propositions

JCDecaux is one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies. It dominates key OOH advertising areas such as railway stations and shopping centres and it has a very strong hold on airports, with 184 sites in 18 countries. This represents 30 percent of the world-wide total and reaches more than 1.5bn passengers annually. Taking advantage of this, the company commissioned an in-depth study on six key airports, and has published its findings in a new report called ‘Airport Stories’.

‘Airport Stories’ focuses on six major airport hubs: Hong Kong, Singapore’s Changi, Heathrow, Frankfurt, Dubai and New York. It had 1,600 respondents and combined quantitative and qualitative analysis, including vox pops, focus groups and online surveys. The research looked into digital signage, experiential advertising (including interactivity) and sponsored services, such as ‘power poles’ to recharge devices, or WiFi services.

Steve Cox, marketing director for JCDecaux Airport UK, opened his presentation on ‘Airport Stories’ by saying: “We are a global player, but with great power comes great responsibility. This research was design to provide a deeper understanding of international airport advertising. We want to explore the connected dynamics of people, brands, displays and airports, and test the concept of the universal brand experience. Through this knowledge our aim is to deliver tangible benefits to advertisers.”

Adding to this, Julie France, JCDecaux’s UK managing director points out: “The good news is that airport advertising is set to grow, with more terminals and more travellers. Airport traffic is predicted to double in the next two decades, growing 4.8 percent year-on-year. In 2012 this will be particularly important in the UK because of the Olympics, with 80 percent of the people attending flying in.”

So, do travellers act differently depending on where they are? The answer is no. However, the study found that travellers have two main states of mind at the airport. Before security control they are alert and efficient, sometimes anxious but mainly focused with the task at hand. Once they have passed security, they are relaxed and excited. The airport is their oyster and they are ready to be entertained, amused and persuaded to buy.

Of the studied airports, a large proportion of the travellers are frequent business flyers. Of these 32 percent are women and 68 percent are men, and are between 25 and 65 years old. They are affluent and influential people; they also tend to be early technology adopters, and 40 percent of them travel more than nine times a year. The vast majority spend at least two hours at the airport, which provides a great opportunity for OOH advertisers.

One of the areas respondents were very keen on seeing more of at airports was digital interactivity. “Airports are ideal for the ‘touch dialogue’,” says Cox. “People said they would like to see more interactivity and opportunities to download to their mobiles. This is a great chance to establish a dialogue with the screen and generate ‘talk media’, for example: word-of-mouth recommendations.”

Cox compared the results of the global survey with those in the UK. The UK is very advanced in the application of digital screens at airports, with the results showing that this crowd is more receptive to the digital proposition. “UK respondents are 45 percent more likely than the average traveller to believe that digital screens help a brand stand out from its competitors,” remarks Cox.

Video advertising and the changes on the screen capture people’s attention. “Knowing this,” he continues, “it’s disappointing to see how many advertisers still run static images on digital screens.”

The research showed that advertising at airports works and travellers welcome it. Most respondents agreed that other media, such as TV and radio, would be better with fewer adverts. However, when it comes to airports, advertising forms part of the beauty of the space. “Although airports have a specific function, which needs to be efficient, they would be very dull if they were deprived of the colour and dynamism of advertising,” Cox concludes. “People see adverts as part of the airport experience. A key part of flying is the exposure to new cultures and new experiences. Airports are the gateways to this, and provide a perfect opportunity to communicate with this receptive audience.”

‘Airport Stories’ shows that airports provide an ideal platform to deliver a message using the latest creative technology to a dynamic and receptive audience: 91 percent of respondents believed that brands benefit from advertising at airports.

First published 12 March 2012 – Output

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