Here’s an interesting and clever concept vending machine with a see through display that is being developed by a Japanese company. But firstly, he’s a few points from the video:

• They use a Vertical Full HD 65″ Transparent display. We don’t know the brand of the display. Does anyone know?
• The products behind the display can be seen through the glass. It would be cool if the screen will display information or content relating to the product that was purchased i.e Did you know…
• When the system is not being used it will display a large digital clock with animations to attract the attention of people passing by. If the animations are cool and has some humour I think it will definitely attract attention.
• You can also simultaneously see high definition text pictures and animation. It appears that the screen images/text are just in black.
• The system is driven by Intel Sandy bridge core. For more information about this processor see this link: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/sandy-bridge/
• It also uses the Intel (they purchased the company Cognovision) Audience Impression Metric or otherwise known as AIM which is used to determine Anonymous facial recognition. The system will be able to determine the person’s gender (male or female), age and then display ads that is relevant to that person by using a camera attached at the top of the vending machine. I think it would have made more sense enclosing the camera as part of the vending machine rather than just having a webcam stuck at the top.
• In the demo, the company is suggesting that the vending machines can be used to purchase luxury items such as cosmetics and wine. I can just see the high insurance bill for this.
• The machine also has a public safety mode which can be used in times of emergency, which will show information such as the emergency routes. What would be cool and exciting to see is if the vending machine turn into a robot and usher you to a safe spot.
• There are many possibilities and opportunities with this solution. It’s all up to our imagination.

Now here’s the video:

Category: Digital Signage Blog Video

This week we were up to no good and opened up two digital signage players to have a look to see what is inside the unit. Here’s some pictures of what we discovered:

Digital Signage player 1	Digital Signage Player 2

As you can see from the picture, these players have the same components as a computer – basically it is a computer. It has a CPU, Motherboard, PSU (Power Supply Unit), Graphics chip, HHD, Memory, Storage Drive and heat sinks/FANs.

Most of the digital signage players that we have seen have an Intel Central Processor Unit chip. The CPU requirements will depend on type of content and software you intent to use the player for. For example, if you just intent to display images and text an Intel ATOM CPU will suffice but if you need to display High Definition videos with flash and images, then a Dual Core CPU will be required.

Digital Signage Player Intel CPU

In addition, the Graphics chip is also a crucial component when determining what digital signage player is required. In particular, there are different types of Graphics chips and cards that has many useful features e.g multiple video outputs (HDMI, VGA, DVI), extended or clone video (the ability to duplicate or extend the content to multiple screens)

If you intent to display lots of Videos as content, then the bigger the HHD the better. SATA is generally faster than IDE. These days, HD Videos can take up as much as Gigabytes of storage, and given that storage is quite affordable then why not have the large storage space.

Digital Signage Player HHD

RAM (Random Access Memory) is temporary storage that loads much faster than a HHD. Memory is also cheap, so the bigger the memory the better. Obviously, costs is always a deciding factor when purchasing any type of product but before you do decide to make that final purchasing decision, make sure you thoroughly review and test the unit.

Digital Signage Player Memory

Category: Digital Signage Blog News, Digital Signage Reviews

The first dedicated digital signage expo in Australia spanning just over half a hall at the Sydney Convention Centre. There were the usual players in the game showcasing their latest products and technologies, and as usual it was the manufacturers who stole much of the stage. The free seminars held almost every hour was an added bonus by experts sharing their knowledge and practical experiences.

continue reading »

Category: Digital Signage Blog Events, Digital Signage Blog News, Featured Post

There seems to be quite a hype about Intels latest technology and I can see why. Have a look at this video and read some of the comments.

Category: Digital Signage Weekend Fun

Category: Digital Signage Blog News