< PreviousViewSonic has partnered with the Taiwan Women’s Art Association (TWAA) to create immersive art experiences at the “Love and Hope – 2022 World Women’s Art Festival”. With continuous efforts to encourage creativity, ViewSonic provides cutting-edge projectors, touch displays and large format interactive displays to enhance the exhibiting experience. Visitors can immerse and interact with a total of 98 artworks by 70 female artists that demonstrate the strength and resilience of women. “We are glad to be a part of this collaboration and provide artists with our visual solutions to create more diverse artworks. ViewSonic is committed to inspiring the world to see the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary,” said Steven Yu, Senior Global Marketing Director at ViewSonic. “Through this partnership, not only we were able to support art and the fight for gender equality, but we were also able to transcend barriers, spreading love and hope around the world.” “Since TWAA’s establishment in 2000, we have taken the concept of we/women as a collective entity to examine history more closely,” said Jun T Lai, Chairwoman of TWAA and Chief Convener of the festival. “The 2022 World Women’s Art Festival reflects our beliefs. Through the power of contemporary female artwork in Taiwan and conversations between women’s art groups around the world, we were able to create momentum in the post-pandemic era for people to start a new chapter in their lives.” In the exhibition, ViewSonic’s projectors use interlaced light and shadows to immerse visitors into the artworks. For instance, “The Hot Zone” by Cynthia Lin is projected onto a wall to present the gradual decay of brain cells in a person with Alzheimer’s disease, whereas “Forest of Enchantress” by Xiao-Hua Dou portrays a woman’s inner self, expressing their love and awe for life. Additionally, ViewSonic’s 65in ViewBoard interactive display and a 24in touch display were placed in the rest area. Visitors can interact with the displays to learn more about the art festival and the concepts behind the exhibition. The exhibition also displayed the artworks of renowned female artists. Created by Mali Wu, Taiwan’s first female winner of the National Award for Arts, “Awake in Your Skin: Bedsheets of Soul” is a red heart-shaped textile installation. Its behind-the- scenes documentary is projected alongside to articulate how the comfort of using a bedsheet contrasts the perseverance that goes into creating one, highlighting the tenacity of a woman’s femininity. “Combined with the projection technology and the use of textiles, a familiar medium, the artwork reflects the complexity of a woman. Audiences can appreciate the effort that went into creating the bedsheet, challenging the preconceptions of traditional household activities,” Wu stated. NEWS IN BRIEF ZYTRONIC TOUCH TECHNOLOGY MAKES DISIGN’S LCD DISPLAY INTERACTIVE Zytronic’s partner and touch display integration specialist, Disign, recently developed its infoverre super-thin, double-sided LCD display unit into an interactive touchscreen module purpose-designed for a well-known chain of Japanese drive-thru quick- service restaurants. The rugged units feature Zytronic’s all-weather ZyBrid 15.6in multitouch sensors, mounted directly in contact with the display’s surface in conjunction with their ZXY500 projected capacitive controllers. Disign acquired the infoverre glass signage business from AGC Inc in 2021 with an agreement to develop the technology further. This display solution successfully mitigates light reflection, which typically occurs at the interface of layered substrates because of their different refractive indices. With a conventional touchscreen system, reflection can occur on the front and back of the touch sensor, and from the display surface, but with the infoverre structure, reflection only occurs from the surface of the cover glass or touch sensor, improving visibility. “The infoverre product has been successfully deployed in public buildings, railway stations, and retail outlets for information signage but making them interactive opens up a whole new world of self-service possibilities,” explained Yan Takatani, President of Disign. 10KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE VIEWSONIC’S VISUAL SOLUTIONS IGNITE LOVE AND HOPEDoddle, e-commerce technology provider, has introduced a range of self-service kiosks to its solution portfolio, enabling retailers and carriers to address the challenge of online returns. The standalone hardware devices enable automated package-less, label-free self-service returns in less than a minute. The Doddle Returns kiosks are fully customisable and each customer journey can be optimised and pre- built. Customers select start on the touchscreen; scan the return QR code and then place their return into the packaging provided. They then take the label printed by the kiosk, apply it to the item and place it in the drop box. A digital receipt is sent by email and the whole process is accessible for all customers thanks to ADA compliance. Carriers can use the kiosks to form part of a comprehensive returns solution and benefit from increased efficiency through consolidated return parcel volumes and a reduction in carbon. They are also able to provide valuable returns insights to their retail customers with return reason data capture. Tapestry Events created an impactful and modern backdrop design to reflect the new brand identity of eco-bus company Alexander Dennis, a subsidiary of NFI, during a two-day hybrid event. Tapestry Events, which has delivered a variety of events for the bus company for over two decades, had a clear understanding of the client’s vision and high expectations for this project. The events specialist chose Absen because of a long and positive history with the manufacturer, having fitted a large PL2.5 LED wall at its HQ in Scotland. “We opted for Absen because its products represent quality and excellence,” said Gary Winters, Senior Production Lead at Tapestry Events. “The value, services and support network has been long established between us, which is important given the high-value investment we made acquiring almost 200sqm of PL2.5 tiles.” Alexander Dennis has turned its attention towards sustainability, boasting a range of low and zero-emission buses and coaches that currently operate globally. Its vision is to lead the evolution of sustainable on-road mass transportation and mobility. The event, held at De Vere Wokefield Estate, UK, was an opportunity for Alexander Dennis to launch its new brand identity and to communicate its future plans for the company. In-person guests were able to view the impressive 27m x 3.5m PL2.5 LED wall, displaying specially designed content, while those who could not attend in-person were invited to view a global live stream of the various presentations, as well as participate in live polls and Q&A sessions. The PL2.5 LED, part of Absen’s award-winning Polaris range, was chosen for this project as it features 1200 nit brightness, UltraBlack Technology and a refresh rate of 3840Hz - with 2.5mm pixel pitch making it an ideal solution for displaying vivid content to those both in the room and online. Winters attributes an easy build in the run-up to the event to the lightweight and user-friendly panels: “The PL2.5 panels are small, lightweight and easily connected together, with a magnetic auto-lock/auto-eject function, which ensured that the tiles went together easily…the entire build was very straightforward – and the results were outstanding!” The LED wall was driven using AV Stumpfl’s PIXERA media server, with Barco servers in place for screen management. All the content displayed was created at 10,800 x 1400 pixels by the Tapestry Events in-house studio team. NEWS IN BRIEF 11 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE DODDLE LAUNCHES SELF SERVICE KIOSKS ABSEN’S LED WALL DRIVES ECO BUS COMPANY REBRANDING EVENT Publish your news and company announcements here Contact: editor@kdseurope.com12KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE magazine (KDS), is the leading technical journal for manufacturers, integrators and deployers of self-service terminals and digital signage integrators. Previously known as Kiosk Solutions, our team at KDS understands the industry’s growing demands and responded by expanding into kiosk’s complementary digital signage and wayfinding markets and rebranding accordingly. Published six times a year, KDS reaches a readership of 25,000 individuals throughout the UK and Europe, comprised of customer service directors, design engineers, project managers, CIOs, CTOs, CFOs and many more. This presents a unique opportunity to reach a qualified audience not available through any other channel. Independent KDS is an independent publication, aiming to offer an objective view of the industry. Articles may present newsworthy acts and/or opinions of named companies, but all measures are taken to ensure that articles within KDS report the objective facts without bias. Editorial We welcome contributions and submissions of news, features, thought leadership posts and interviews from companies and individuals regarding the kiosk and digital signage industry. Send your story to the editor: Laura Vallis at editor@kdseurope.com. All editorial that we receive from third parties is subject to the editor-in-chief's ultimate approval, and submission of an article is no guarantee of publication. To ensure that all articles meet the editorial policy, we reserve the right to edit the whole or part of any material selected for publication. You can find our editorial policy on our website by clicking HERE. Advertising If you would like to discuss one of our advertising or advertorial packages please contact sales@kdseurope.com.NEWS IN BRIEF 13 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE ZYTRONIC’S NEW INTERACTIVE PASSENGER INFORM BOARDS Travellers at airports, railway stations and other transit hubs now have easy access to a wealth of up-to- the-minute information at their fingertips thanks to engineering solutions provider L.B. Foster. The 43in INFORM range includes fixed and mobile interactive totems plus wall-mounted displays. The units take advantage of Zytronic’s highly durable multitouch projected capacitive touch (MPCT) technology supplied via its UK distributor Display Technology. Display Technology supplied two customised touch screen designs for L.B. Foster at its UK manufacturing facility. The totem and wall-mounted units are both 43in in size and need to work indoors and outdoors, in often unattended locations. To meet this requirement, the TFT LCD displays feature a wide operating temperature with low power consumption while offering high brightness. Each has Zytronic’s ZXY500 multitouch controller to provide millisecond fast, all-weather performance. The touch sensors are made from printed 6mm thermally tempered glass with a laminated rear hard- coated polyester film, delivering impact resistance and anti-spalling if broken. The glass has an antiglare etched finish for better visibility in direct sunlight and the touchscreens also incorporate UV blocking and IR reducing filters to help protect the underlying LCD from sunlight damage and assist the overall system thermal management. Review Display Systems (RDS) has announced the introduction of a new material technology for use with PCap (projected capacitive) touchscreens from touch solutions manufacturer AMT. The AMT Polym Touch solution uses a new polymer composite material as the top cover lens to enhance the protection of the PCap touch substrate and significantly improve the ability to withstand impact forces. For impact resistant PCap touch solutions, thick glass cover lenses are often used. Health and safety regulations dictate that equipment and production machinery used within the food industry, and public information terminals and kiosks, must avoid the use of glass materials in touch-based systems. The weight of the glass cover increases significantly as the size of the product increases. In contrast, AMT Polym Touch uses a polymer composite for the cover lens, which is only half the weight of glass of the equivalent size. The implementation of a polymer composite cover lens enables the complete PCap touch solution to be thin, lightweight, and exceptionally durable with significantly improved impact resistance while still meeting the requirements of the IK10 drop ball test rating (equivalent to a 5kg mass dropped from 400mm above the impact surface). Justin Coleman, Display Business Manager, RDS said, “AMT’s composite polymer PCap solution provides excellent impact resistance and is suitable for small and medium-sized products that need to be lightweight, rugged, and able to meet industry standard drop test specifications. AMT are constantly improving and developing the functionality, flexibility and reliability of their PCap touch solutions. The new Polym Touch cover lens solution offers greater scope and versatility for new PCap touch designs.” The composite polymer material also features anti-UV properties and meets the ASTM G154-Cycle 1QUV 1000 hours standard for measuring accelerated outdoor weathering conditions. Polym Touch is therefore able to withstand UV ray damage without any additional processing. An operating temperature range of -30° to +60° is supported. The polymer composite material can be applied to a diverse range of AMT PCap designs and offers support for a wide range of touch controllers including PenMount P2 series (Microchip IC), PenMount K1 series (ILITEK IC), and AE series (EETI IC) touch controllers. INNOVATIVE POLYMER COMPOSITE ENHANCES SAFETY FOR PCAP TOUCH DISPLAY SOLUTIONST echnological adoption isn’t new for retailers. The industry has had to continually evolve and utilise different solutions to engage with an increasing number of digital consumers. However, in today’s environment, where consumers have a profusion of online and offline purchasing options at the touch of a button, retailers must be armed with next-gen technologies to provide consumers with the best possible experience. Historically, there has always been separate competition both within the high street and between e-commerce retailers. Now, everyone is competing with each other because technology has evolved to the point where if you don’t have both an online sales channel and a brick-and-mortar presence, you are at a significant disadvantage. Consumers are extremely demanding. They know that if one retailer doesn’t provide them with the experience they want, another will. And they will happily change loyalties. Personalising experiences to each consumer has become the key to retaining consumers and attracting new ones. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have become instrumental in enabling retailers to customise experiences based on consumer habits and preferences. What technologies do you think can help retailers personalise the experience for consumers? Solutions powered with AI and ML can help retailers analyse consumer data based on transactions, demographics, product type preferences, purchase history, loyalty programs, as well as purchase behaviours – helping them to provide an increasingly personalised experience. Technology’s role doesn’t stop at analysis, though. With the right solution, retailers can create an all-encompassing retail solution that begins at the entry of the sales funnel and doesn’t end until the customer leaves the store with their purchase in hand. Yes, retailers have analytics, but they also have access to secure customer relationship management (CRM), order management and the correct utilisation of RETAIL TECHNOLOGY Retail technology has become a huge part of the industry - especially over the last few years. Heading into 2022’s festive season, Jonathan Mauerer at Teamwork Commerce asks why is it so important for retailers to push the boundaries of innovation with their technology adoption? JONATHAN MAUERER VP OPERATIONS TEAMWORK COMMERCE 14KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE HOW CAN RETAILERS LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY TO PROSPER DURING THE FESTIVE PEAK?RETAIL TECHNOLOGY 15 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINEinventory, clienteling and mobile point of sale (MPOS). When integrated correctly, retailers can provide their customers with a seamless shopping experience that rewards loyalty. Not only do they thoroughly enjoy their customer journey, but they have an incentive to return. What role can these technologies play in aiding retailers to make the most of a busy festive period? Modern retailers need to not only be capable of serving consumers across a mix of offline and online sales channels, but they need to provide an offering tailored to each customer. Consider Black Friday, the traditional curtain raiser of the festive shopping period. Every year it gets bigger and bigger, and the pandemic sent the retail industry into chaos when it realised how much shopping would be completed online that year. Last year saw more in-store sales as Covid-19 recovery continued, but shoppers were still apprehensive about visiting stores. Now that the pandemic is well and truly behind us, we expect this year to be a complete mix of online and offline. RETAIL TECHNOLOGY 16KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Retailers need an all-encompassing omnichannel solution that caters to both online and offline purchases. By fully integrating all channels, retailers can understand their customers, from the very beginning. They can also be flexible in line with consumer demands, tracking purchasing preferences, allowing customers to jump between sales channels as they wish and providing an uninterrupted experience. The right system will cater to everything. A key consideration for the festive period is taking into account how busy stores can get. A good sign for retailers but a painful one for customers. Retailers cannot underestimate the power of the in-store experience and the more boots in-store, the more opportunity for sales. But customers get turned off by long queues and busy waiting times. A user-friendly but multi- feature, point-of-sale system can be essential to providing customers with a smooth checkout experience completed in seconds. The right mobile POS technology is a crucial line-buster and will allow retailers to maximise revenue while providing an amazing in-store experience during the coming months.RETAIL TECHNOLOGY 17 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Great deals and offers are almost synonymous with the festive shopping season, and dates such as Black Friday and Boxing Day rely heavily on them. How can retailers utilise these to optimise their results over the next few months? To achieve optimal efficiency, retailers require increased visibility and integration across various applications that manage orders, inventory, sales, customers and much more. Deals on Black Friday and Boxing Day drive enormous opportunities for retailers to not only boost sales but also to gain as much insight as possible to analyse future trends. With increased in-store footfall and online web traffic in this festive season, retailers can use advanced reporting and analytics to gain increased visibility and analyse data to help plan for the future strategically and make effective decisions. Whether it is information about stock availability or consumers’ purchasing habits, advanced reporting and analytics technology can provide crucial information that is useful in both the short-term and the long-term. Customer retention is the key to success in today’s retail environment. Do you have any top tips for retailers looking to boost customer loyalty around the festive season? Retailers must have an all-encompassing approach to provide a top-tier customer experience. Offerings including inventory control, payment processing and customer relationship management, are an important part of the customer journey. Providing these services seamlessly with an all-in-one solution can significantly simplify operations for retailers while enabling them to deliver ultimate customer satisfaction. To enhance in-store experiences, retailers can leverage mobile POS systems. MPOS help in-store associates to deliver a personalised experience while providing customers with a range of useful information - such as stock availability, purchase history and available discounts - with just a tap on a tablet. What’s more, unlike traditional POS systems, the technology can run offline in any part of the store - allowing customers to enjoy services without standing in long queues. In today’s competitive landscape, retailers need to separate themselves from their competitors at every single touchpoint when it comes to customer service, from initial engagement to finalising the transaction. Retailers who begin to leverage these advanced technologies can significantly gain a competitive advantage in the upcoming festive period. GUEST EXPERIENCE 18KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINET he availability of broadband internet improved guest experience immensely. At the centre of these changes was the introduction of the smart TV, providing entertainment and information on-demand. Instead of just waiting for a scheduled TV show or movie, hotel guests can now watch videos in their own time. In addition, hotels can also use smart TVs as in-room information kiosks. They can display the hotel’s list of scheduled activities, show available dining options, and even deliver weather and travel advisories. Smart TVs can also serve as a secondary means of communication, allowing guests to make reservations, request additional services, or order food and drinks without leaving their rooms. Smart TVs Help Deliver an Enhanced Guest Experience Smart TVs have become key to ensuring a satisfactory guest experience. According to the Hotel Internet Services’ 2020 Guestroom Entertainment Study, many hotel guests like watching video-on-demand streaming services while staying at a hotel. This includes the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ and HBO. However, the majority (71%) prefer to cast content from their own devices rather than from a hotel’s VOD services. Casting, however, comes with its own set of challenges and while guest experience remains of the utmost importance, management around GUEST EXPERIENCE ANDROID TV MANAGEMENT: ENHANCED GUEST EXPERIENCE PLUS BENEFITS FOR YOUR WHOLE TEAM A few years ago, the typical hotel guest experience centred around amenities outside of the internet, like stocked minibars and 1,000-count sheets. Room entertainment usually meant a standard TV with cable channels and maybe some pay-per-view options. To learn about out-of-room dining options, facilities, or special programs, guests needed to consult the concierge. Nadav Avni, CMO, Radix Technologies discusses how smart TVs can help deliver a more enhanced hotel guest experience. NADAV AVNI CMO RADIX TECHNOLOGIES 19 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINENext >