Digital signage grows up televisions During an economic downturn that left operators strapped for capital expenditure dollars, digital signage in public areas tended to be a low priority for most hoteliers. Recent reductions in the cost of TVs, in addition to shifting guest expectations, mean brands are putting a new focus on exploring digital signage as a touch point and revenue generator. “Ninety-five percent of LG’s revenue comes from the consumer product stream, so it drives availability of technology,” said Dan Smith, director of digital signage for LG. “Smart TVs are starting to come into their own on the retail level for consumers. In general, something similar to what a tablet does today is what TVs will do in coming years.” New models from vendors such as LG and Samsung include limited built-in slideshow technology that can allow a hotelier to simply display information or slideshows on screen. “The high-end industrial devices have twice the life expectancy and require a separate media player,” Smith said. “They need rendering, where they can render live or Flash video.” Despite the increased costs of a high-quality screen and a separate media player, digital signage investment gives hotels a robust set of tools to reach guests. “Anything dynamic is far more exciting for the customer,” Smith said. “Instead of looking through pamphlets, guests can see videos and delve interactively into actual things.” Interactive content gives signage an app-like feel A new wave of signage technology requires a new approach to creating content that appeals to guests and accurately reflects the image of a hotel brand. “We’ve taken signage to all new levels by using more of an applications approach,” said Erick Domareck, national account manager for full-service hospitality at Four Winds Interactive. Four Winds worked on Marriott’s GoBoard interactive sign, and works with brands such as InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International and Omni Hotels & Resorts on interactive signage projects. “On a lot of our signs, we’ve borrowed a lot of user elements behind smartphones and the tablets,” Domareck said. “By taking that applications approach, we’ve made it more user-friendly from the guests’ perspective.” And signage manufacturers see a positive shift in the attitude of hotel owners as they begin to research new touch points and methods of increasing guest satisfaction. “It’s good to get away from the guestroom and try to understand the public area because it’s not the easiest of [sections] and has also been a bit amateurish in a sense,” said Juan Aguirre, VP of business development at Acentic, a provider of hotel TV platforms. “It’s been a bit flat apart from showing meeting room information and running an ad for a bar. It’s not exactly a turn-on for hoteliers and I think that’s changing.” A more advanced signage system also can interact with property systems, allowing integrated control of displays across a property. “There are numerous solutions out there, from extremely basic PowerPoint players all the way up to the more enterprise solutions like ours and the other big players’ products,” Domareck said. ■HM asheivachman@questex.com Touch screens get more sophisticated Forward-thinking vendors and brands are exploring cutting-edge technologies such as signage-to-mobile interaction and even 3D displays. “On the touch-screen side, the first large, affordable screens are coming out,” said Juan Aguirre, VP of business development at Acentic. “Vendors are bringing out touch screens with a cool design and have open interfaces on which software can be ported. The physical hardware is there and the back-end elements and guest experience are starting to develop. You’ve had implementation on basic webpages, which is not very exciting. Now with the iPad and Android revolution, it’s getting people to access information in a familiar way.” Buying a big, beautiful screen can prove a fallow investment if the right technology isn’t working behind the scenes. “I see a lot of digital signage hooked up to PCs, but as a simple solution you’re limited to showing static content,” said Erick Domareck, national account manager for full-service hospitality at Four Winds Interactive. “With our software, you can implement dynamic content like flight info, rotating promos and even live television content. You really can take our software and implement it on non-touch screens; the amount of content multiplies because you can offer multiple options onscreen at a time.” While glasses-free 3D is still in its infancy, the opportunity for hoteliers to create a unique experience for guests is growing. “If you design content with 3D in mind, then it’s a different kind of interaction; you’re literally grabbing the attention of the guest as he walks though a public area,” Aguirre said.