From TVs, twitter, and mobile phones, the amount of electronic information with which we are presented on a daily basis has exploded and we have become increasingly conditioned to want this information on a at our fingertips real-time basis. We have almost gotten to the point now, however, that we – as a society – have developed a Device Attention Hyperactivity Disorder. So within the retail automation, at the same time that we want a more immersive consumer experience, it is becoming both more difficult and important to capture customer attention and loyalty.
Now enters the role of tomorrow’s digital signage. What were once nothing more than transaction facilitators or static standalone advertisement platforms have become a rapidly evolving medium for consumer engagement and market intelligence. The digital signage platforms of tomorrow combine artificial intelligence and real-time analytics in order to enable the more dynamic and tailored experience retailers want.
Imagine a world where you are in a mall and walk into a store and a digital signage kiosk can sense your preferences and suggest products to you as soon as you arrive in the store. Then you are presented with a range of potential product options that you can scroll through. Meanwhile, the digital sign pings the stores servers, an associate is paged, alerted to your presence, and given a heads up as to what of the products you are browsing through in stock.
As some of you all know, this type of M2M interaction is already starting to happen in some retail settings. So what does this mean to the embedded supplier community?
For one, there are new revenue opportunities presented through the enablement of this rich, connected consumer experience, but there is also an opportunity for embedded solution suppliers and their clients to access additional marketing revenue paid by clients hoping to have their specific brand promoted first within the digital signs.
Whereas these new functionality requirements can certainly help embedded solution vendors diversify their portfolio of products and services, the evolution of the semiconductor requirements for these systems is also helping to drive change in this market. Not only do these systems have higher performance media and graphics processing requirements, but the semiconductor technology needed to support them is becoming available at increasingly competitive price points that are reinforcing market opportunity growth.