Just Wave Your Hands
When you step into the lobby of a Hilton Hotel
later this year, you likely will encounter a novel technology
called interactive display advertising. As the name suggests,
the actions of a person viewing a video advertisement become an
integral part in influencing and controlling what’s being shown
on the display. The purpose is to engage the viewer who uses
only body gestures in interacting with the ad; there is no
physical contact with the display. The success metric is
dependent on how long the person continues to respond, typically
measured in minutes.
In a joint venture with Samsung and Reactrix
Systems, an interactive out-of-home media company, video
displays will be installed in Hilton Hotels by year’s end to
showcase the gesture-based technology, according to a recent
article in the MIT Technology Review. Along with the
display, a camera records 3-D images of the movements of anyone
standing as far away as 15 feet in front of the display. By
analyzing the images, and coupled with vision algorithms, the
display programmatically reacts to viewer gestures to further
engage and entertain participants.
As stated in the article, the heart of the
image capture is a stereoscopic camera that has two lenses.
Additionally, infrared lighting is projected on the people
standing in front of the display to help determine viewer
distance. Each lens captures a slightly different image that is
fed to a special processor. The processed camera images provide
full-depth data for all objects within the field of view,
enabling distances to be determined very accurately. In fact,
the system can discern when people are holding hands or standing
close together.
In the interactive environment, the user
interface has to garner a lot of attention. It really hasn’t
been decided which interface works best for the majority of
people. Interacting with a virtual boxer on a display is one
thing, but how do you simulate the activation of a button if
there is no button to press?
As for the Hilton lobby displays, people will
be able to interact much as they would in operating a simple
computer. There will be menus that will allow them to access
various entities such as games, restaurants, theaters, and
information on other local attractions. The intent is to make
the whole experience fun for everyone while promoting specific
advertising messages.
Another digital media offered by Reactrix is
called STEPscape™, an advertising product that currently is
embedded in the floors of malls and theaters across the country.
Participants simply step on the product to interact with the
advertiser’s message. What’s significant is that Reactrix can
measure and quantify when people become involved with STEPscape.
The company will provide its clients with data on how many
people viewed the advertisement, how many engaged with the ad,
how many got on the interactive display, and how long they did
so.
In the future, don’t be too surprised if you see some strange
behavior by fellow passengers at the airport while waiting for
your next flight. Not to worry; they’re most likely enjoying and
playing with the latest advertisement on the gesture-based
interactive display.
Paul Milo
Editorial Director
pmilo@evaluationengineering.com