< PreviousNEWS IN BRIEF 10KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE As the automotive market continues to demand larger touchscreens with more flexibility in size and shape, Microchip has announced a new maXTouch touchscreen controller, that allows automotive designers to satisfy various and unique aspect ratios for touch displays in cars. This new offering includes additional functional safety support requested by OEMs. The MXT1296M1T can reconfigure its driving and receiving touch channels to match the exact screen format, from 1:1 to 5:1 aspect ratio, including the popular 8:3 automotive aspect ratio. This feature enables the customer to efficiently use the number of touch channels available, without the need to select a larger, more expensive touch controller. Furthermore, customers can save additional development and validation time and resources by reusing a common PCB design to support different touch sensor aspect ratios. The MXT1296M1T is an industry first to enable the sensor channel reconfiguration by parameters. These settings do not require firmware modification, leading to lower design risk and faster time to market. Microchip’s new maXTouch touchscreen controller offers two communication interfaces operating simultaneously which allow a bridgeless connection to the back channel of the LVDS video link for touch information and a connection to a local microcontroller (MCU). The bridgeless topology reduces touch latency to improve the user experience. It also guarantees full compatibility with the maXTouch software driver, available for all major automotive operating systems, including Linux, Android and QNX. CDS AGREES PARTNERSHIP WITH GENERAL TOUCH Crystal Display Systems has agreed a significant distribution agreement with China-based General Touch. CDS, with its excellent displays’ knowledge, technical support and stockholding facilities will focus on the General Touch range of touchscreen xaedge-lit monitors including sample availability, stockholding and full after-sales support directly from its UK Headquarters in the historical UK city of Rochester. CDS has a global footprint and can unfold many opportunities for the General Touch products. The Chinese partner also appreciates this which is why it has partnered directly with the UK based displays specialist and will support CDS and its customers in every way possible. Mike Leary, General Touch, said, “I am confident that CDS will assist General Touch in generating a solid market presence. Together, we offer a very diverse and competitive range of Touch Display Monitors. With our customer-focused approach to offer a good level of flexibility, when it comes to customisation, we aim to provide our customers with the best service and Touch Display options across many markets.” MAXTOUCH TOUCHSCREEN CONTROLLER OFFERS EXTENSIVE SCREEN FORMAT FLEXIBILITY Innovative Technology’s long-standing UK Trading Partner, Maggi Electronics, has created a product showroom at its head office in Bolton, featuring some of ITL’s latest retail offerings. Customers can undertake a walk around experience which replicates a real-life retail setting demonstrating cash handling processes. Andy Bullock, Senior Business Development Manager, ITL, commented, “Maggi officially became an ITL Trading Partner at the beginning of 2017, but our working relationship goes back further than that, and over the years we have collaborated on many initiatives. “In May 2020, we launched CashGenic, an affordable cash automation solution for those customers wanting to pay by cash safely and hygienically and to enable businesses to adhere to social distancing measures. Since then, we have partnered with CC Dynamic and Maggi who provide the full solution (branded as £XCHEKKA), a compact, all-in one counter-top device ensuring easy customer access, with pay-in and pay-out managed by staff via a mobile tablet device with no software integration required. Maggi is responsible for the customer installs which are expanding quickly throughout the UK. They set up a demo showroom so customers can see for themselves the benefits this system can bring to their organisations.” Chris Woodall, Managing Director of CC Dynamic, said, “Customers who have installed £XCHEKKA are already seeing some excellent time and cost savings efficiencies and even more importantly - an uptake in cash payments. Plus, their customers are reacting positively too. At one premises, customers are even bringing cash specifically to have a go at using the new machine! Staff also like it as they no longer need to handle and count change.” MAGGI ELECTRONICS DEMONSTRATES HYGIENIC CASH HANDLINGNEWS IN BRIEF 11 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE Danny Rose Studio, the collective behind the current Spirit of Japan art exhibition at the Kadokawa Culture Museum, has deployed more than 30 Digital Projection E-Vision Laser 10K projectors to illuminate the floors, ceilings and walls of this spectacular venue. Untranslated, the title of the Spirit of Japan exhibition reads Ukiyo-e Theatre – the ‘ukiyo-e’ are small art pieces created in Japan from the 17th–19th century which depicted daily life as it was. These pieces gained much popularity when circulated among the Western world, forging an impressionist art movement. Colourful fans, glowing lanterns, cherry blossoms rocking in the wind: the nostalgia of the past has been given a new lease of life in the Spirit of Japan exhibition, which will be immersing visitors into Japan’s colourful history as it continues into next spring. Danny Rose Studio previously produced an exhibition in France, entitled Dreamed Japan – Images of the Floating World, which attracted over 2 million visitors, and in light of its popularity, the tour was reimagined for Spirit of Japan. Employing advanced video projection technologies, Danny Rose Studio creates environments that are fully immersive and often surreal. Creators from a variety of fields, including digital artists, programmers and musicians, work to combine historic artwork – in this case from 19th-century Japan – with contemporary technologies and narratives to create an entirely new type of large-scale visual/spatial installation. To achieve something of this magnitude for Spirit of Japan, the venue was divided into three major areas to receive 360º edge blending projection across all the surfaces. Ground projection and cylinder projection mapping throughout also help create a fully immersive experience with 360º visuals. Alongside Digital Projection laser technology, a VNS GeoBox video wall controller controlled the edge-blending output from multiple projectors, coupled with a BrightSign media player to deliver the video content. DIGITAL PROJECTION BRINGS BYGONE ERA OF JAPAN BACK TO LIFE RUGGED AND COMPACT FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS Review Display Systems (RDS) has announced the availability of a new rugged, compact computing system from AAEON. The BOXER-6643- TGU is powered by 11th Generation Intel Core U processors that enable the system to deliver enhanced performance, wide temperature range operation, 5G support and other innovative technologies to support embedded controller and industrial IoT applications in challenging industrial environments. With up to 64GB of memory and integrated Intel Iris Xe embedded graphics GPU, the BOXER-6643-TGU enables users to utilise its processing capabilities to support industrial AI and Edge Computing applications. Dual HDMI ports allow the system to support 4K high-definition video on two independent displays, ideal for digital signage applications. Data-intensive applications are ably supported with the BOXER- 6643-TGU I/O specification. Featuring two LAN ports, 2.5Gbps and 1.0 Gbps, the system supports high- speed communication for real-time processing and control. The system also features expansion slots for wireless networks, including WiFi, 4G and 5G mobile network communication. Other I/O features include four USB3.2 Gen 2 slots, dual COM ports and 8-channel DIO. Peter Marchant, Embedded Division Manager, RDS said, “The BOXER-6643-TGU delivers cost- effective performance, offering the latest Intel embedded processors, in a computing platform that features compact, rugged construction and meets the processing needs and support requirements of many industrial applications.” The BOXER-6643-TGU offers a range of storage options including mSATA and NVMe, and a SATA III port connected directly to the board. PPC PROTECT’S PROTECTIVE ANALYTICS PLATFORM PPC Protect has announced the introduction of its new Protective Analytics Platform. This move expands its existing ad fraud prevention SaaS solution to encompass ad protection across all ad networks including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc. PPC Protect’s machine learning technology performs analysis on ad traffic, detecting and protecting acquisition investments from the threat of fraudulent, invalid click activity. Neil Andrew, CEO and Founder of PPC Protect stated, “With the increase in speed at which businesses are moving online, the risks posed by click fraud are more significant than ever. Losses for businesses worldwide are expected to exceed $50 billion by 2023. We think businesses should have a right to protect themselves against this.” By combining cybersecurity and data analysis capabilities into one platform, PPC Protect reduces invalid ad traffic to a minimum and uses that ad traffic data to provide additional insights into user behaviors across multiple acquisition networks including optimisation of budding signals. This provides significant improvements in ROAS and opens up new opportunities for user and revenue acquisition.NEWS IN BRIEF 12KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE WHEN DATA COLLECTION DELIVERS TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING Keen AI’s new KAI platform uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to condense, store and compare visual data; delivering fast analysis and valuable trend prediction for large scale asset networks. Technology is increasingly used to collect as much visual data as possible but there is a global shortage of skilled engineers with the knowledge to review and interpret this data and turn it into actionable information. Improved ability to collect information may only exacerbate the situation, as typically, more and more data ends up being passed through the same number of people. The result is often a larger backlog of data to review - and overworked staff. Amjad Karim of Keen AI said, “The problem with managing this volume of information tends to be twofold. Firstly, how do you process all this data, when the capacity for human analysis tends to be limited, slow and highly expensive? “Secondly, how do you store and arrange this volume of data in a way that lets us learn from it; utilising its full power to reveal or predict changing conditions over time?” Keen AI’s work with AI and machine learning provides a technical solution to that practical need for a selective attention mechanism. The company was initially born through working on risk assessment for National Grid in 2018; carrying out condition assessment of overhead line assets. This required the team to develop a reliable model to identify components from video footage. This also reduced the condition assessment process time by 66% by filtering out images where there isn’t anything of interest and drawing attention to potential defects. Absen has ended the year on a high with the introduction of five new cutting- edge products and technologies. Looking ahead to 2022 and in particular, to the ISE show where the new series will be presented to international visitors in a much-anticipated industry trade show, Absen unveiled at an online autumn 2021 product launch, the new generation HC series of professional small pitch products, the AX Pro series of MiniLED, the MR series of professional floor tile screens and the much-awaited Clear Cobalt MicroLED, all of which are now available. Absen’s most anticipated technology was arguably the Clear Cobalt MicroLED series, which boasts 1200nit brightness and a contrast ratio of 20,000:1. The pixel pitch ranges from 1.2mm down to 0.7mm and uses flip chip technology to improve electrical performance and increase overall reliability. Compared to a standard SDR (standard dynamic range) display, the HDR10 allows for an image that is over twice as bright with a corresponding increase in contrast. The COB (chip-on-board) technology has a deep black, non-reflective surface which is able to produce life-like image quality without over saturation. The product boasts a wide colour gamut of 90% BT2020, reduced moiré-effect and black uniformity. Also released was the new HC series of professional small pitch products, the HC II and the HC II Pro. The 27in diagonal HD display panels are ultra- light and thin, weighing 5.2kg with native resolution of 4K, 8K or above. This series has a dual receiving card option and a 16:9 standard display ratio. The latest series of the AX Pro MiniLED was also introduced as part of Absen’s growing virtual production range, serving as a backdrop screen with 1000nit brightness and a high refresh rate of 7680Hz. The MR series of professional floor tile screens offers a new virtual LED solution, capable of creating fully immersive LED wall and floor. ABSEN ENDS 2021 ON A HIGH WITH FIVE NEW PRODUCTS AND MUCH ANTICIPATED MICROLED Peerless-AV has announced a distribution partnership with CBK Distribution AS, one of the largest distributors of IT and AV equipment to dealers in Norway. From its HQ and distribution hub near Oslo, CBK will sell and distribute all Peerless-AV products and will promote through its marketing channels, training sessions, product demonstrations and events. The addition of Peerless-AV to the portfolio complements the existing display and digital signage brands and enhances CBK’s position as a total solutions provider for the Norwegian market. Martin Romanowski, Regional Director of Sales – EMEA, Peerless-AV, said, “The Nordic region is growing rapidly and as a company we are investing and implementing our go- to-market strategy with new channel partners and increased local support. With CBK’s technical knowledge and extensive experience in AV, digital signage and digital communication and our 80 years legacy as a global manufacturer, we are convinced we can take a large market share in the region going forward.” PEERLESS-AV STRENGTHENS NORDIC POSITIONNEWS IN BRIEF 13 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE If you would like to discuss one of our advertising or advertorial packages contact: sales@kdseurope.com Marking the 17th year since it became a founding member, Barco has confirmed its plans to return to ISE 2022, with a dynamic and experiential 304sqm showcase on booth 3D400. Held for the first time at the Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía venue in Barcelona, ISE 2022 will set the stage for the Barco exhibit, debuting a range of cutting-edge solutions that promise to bring visitors closer to the future. Barco will offer visitors the chance to discover its very latest display innovation, with the launch of its flagship direct view LED platform. Easy to install and maintain, it is designed for a reliable, seamless and unmatched viewing experience in any lighting which makes it ideal for use in a whole host of applications including control rooms, as well as corporate and broadcast environments. Barco will also be creating its own spectacular projection mapping showcase, using its UDX projectors and content from Dirty Monitor. Additionally, visitors to the booth will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the future of hybrid meetings in the experiential, two- floor ClickShare Tower. The showcase is on course to be the first large- scale, in-person demonstration of the ClickShare range, as well as the ClickShare App. Demonstrating the power and functionality, the ClickShare Tower will enable customers to discover, first-hand, a truly room agnostic solution that can deliver transformative “walk in and connect” meeting experiences. Barco will also be participating in a number of ISE 2022 summits. BARCO TO BRING VISITORS CLOSER TO THE FUTURE nsign.tv and Alfalite have developed an integration to offer a comprehensive communication solution under a turnkey system that includes omnichannel content management system, video server, LED screen and LED controller. nsign.tv has a communication platform for digital signage that has been integrated with the electronic control and LED screens of the European manufacturer Alfalite, in such a way that in a single hardware and from a single software interface, it is possible to perform the complete management of the content as well as the management of the LED screen remotely. “Our challenge is to get users to focus on communicating the right content for each physical space and not have to worry about how to do it. That is what our platform is for,” said Toni Viñals, CEO of nsign.tv. “With the integration agreement reached with Alfalite we take to another dimension the total integration of our platform with LED screens for a turnkey distributed content management solution that is extremely easy to implement by our distributors and partners. It’s fantastic to see how from the same interface you can control the LED screen management and the content distribution.” Luis Garrido, Executive Director of Alfalite, added, “Both Alfalite and nsign.tv were already at the forefront of the communication technology development in Europe, but thanks to this collaboration agreement between both companies it has been possible to develop for the first time an integration of a communication platform and distributed content management with the electronic control of our LED screens, achieving a totally user-friendly environment that allows us to offer an unmatched Plug & Play solution to our distribution channel.” NSIGN.TV INTEGRATES WITH ALFALITE'S LED DISPLAY SCREENS Club Parramatta in New South Wales, Australia, has deployed an Exterity IPTV and digital signage system as part of a A$25 million refurbishment project. The modern, spacious and elegant Club has invested heavily to reaffirm its commitment to providing a premium hospitality and event experience, with AV forming a key component to both inform and entertain guests during their stay. There are over 100 Exterity appliances – including media players, encoders and gateways – at the Club. Local AV specialist Intellect Projects Group (IPG) deployed a new, site-wide network around a 10GB switching core, with structured CAT 6a cabling across the facility. The Exterity IPTV and ArtioSign digital signage solution is connected to over 70 screens across the facility, from 75in displays running 4K sports content, to indoor and outdoor LED screens for digital signage and projectors within the function rooms. Live music was of particular importance to the venue, and the Exterity IP video system interfaces seamlessly with a Dante audio platform used for the PA and high quality live music distribution. The Exterity systems act as a central distribution hub for multiple content feeds around the club, which include live TV, premium sports and interactive video content that is used in the club’s electronic gaming machines. “Exterity has proven extremely easy to integrate with other systems and that is a big plus,” explains Justin Baker, Technical Director for IPG. “The end result is a stunning venue that has one of the best audio visual and automation setups in Sydney. We had a clean slate to work with, so we evaluated a number of IPTV systems before choosing Exterity. The other solutions had poor user interfaces or were just not as reliable – the last thing the club wanted was for guests to walk into the venue and see a display that's not working properly, or a holding screen because there's no content available. When we tested Exterity’s system it ticked all the right boxes.” CLUB PARRAMATTA ELEVATES GUEST EXPERIENCECUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 14KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINEO ne such example has been the adoption of additional communications channels for customers to use when interacting with the businesses they buy from. While it’s important to open up the channels of communication that consumers have access to, it’s also vital that these channels are properly integrated and synchronised with one another, enabling businesses to improve the customer’s experience. A recent Gartner study found that 89% of businesses now expect to compete on the experience they offer to customers, rather than simply the price of what they sell. Across industry sectors, bolstering customer experience will be a vital catalyst for growth. Building on this, a report from Zendesk revealed that 60% of consumers consider the quality of the service they received as an essential component of their loyalty to a particular brand. Consequently, businesses will be more likely to increase their customer lifetime value and improve brand advocacy rates – this is of particular importance in saturated markets. Integrating communication channels is the key to unlocking customer satisfaction Offering a range of channels to get in touch can only get you so far, it’s integrating these channels in one place that makes the difference to the customer’s experience. If for example, a customer places an enquiry on web chat, but the company has no way of linking this up to later interactions CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE WHY ENHANCING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS A VITAL PIECE OF THE JIGSAW The pandemic has allowed many organisations to enhance their digital transformation strategies to ensure they could function effectively during periods of great uncertainty and in a post-Covid environment. SIMON BLACKWELL CMO TELCOSWITCH 15 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINECUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 16KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE on email, social media, or over the phone, then the customer experience erodes. Given how highly customer experience is regarded by Gartner and others, implementing these channels in a siloed manner won’t deliver the levels of consumer loyalty brands need to thrive. Therefore, organisations should pay close attention not only to how they can embrace omnichannel but crucially, how they can effectively manage it. Leapfrogging competitors with the timely adoption of omnichannel solutions When we think of omnichannel we often think of large contact centre-based businesses, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. While small to medium-sized organisations don’t self-identify as being contact centres, they share many of the same attributes, such as social media adoption, SaaS-based ticketing and CRM systems, online payment platforms and more. Many of these companies are also ‘cloud-first’ in nature and Offering a range of channels can only get you so far, it’s integrating these channels in one place that makes the difference.CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE 17 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE aren’t beholden to legacy infrastructure that can’t quickly or easily be cloud-enabled. In essence, these businesses can adopt omnichannel solutions faster than their larger counterparts and that gifts them a competitive advantage when it comes to customer experience. Investing now will allow businesses to reap future rewards The pandemic not only changed the way organisations function but also changed the way customers function. Consumers now expect businesses to have adapted to new ways of working and won’t be as tolerant of long wait times and limited channels of communications as they might have been previously. Customer experience is more important now than ever before, so modern businesses must be mindful of this when evaluating how their customers can communicate with them. Those who properly marry omnichannel to deliver high-quality customer experiences will be the ones to enjoy the highest levels of consumer loyalty. To ensure consumers can communicate with the businesses they buy from efficiently and in the ways that suit them, it is imperative that leaders see the big picture when embracing omnichannel capabilities. Ultimately, this means remembering that new channels are redundant if customers have a poor experience while using them. Companies that recognise this and take definitive steps to build a true omnichannel experience are the ones that will benefit the most. Those who marry omnichannel to deliver high-quality customer experiences will be the ones to enjoy the highest consumer loyalty.T he comparative advantages—relative to traditional “chalk-and-talk” classroom environments—include creating immersive learning experiences, scaling up instruction, facilitating varied and innovative instruction, and increasing student engagement. When schools use technology to enhance the work of educators and to improve the quality of teaching, learners thrive. With this increased use of technology comes an increase in responsibility to manage these devices appropriately, while also maintaining a safe learning environment. This means having an educational technology device management strategy in place so students can use tablets, laptops and touchscreens without compromising security or impacting performance. Educational technology device management can be a challenge if you’re not properly prepared. Mobile device management (MDM) solutions were developed with these concerns in mind, providing scalable, comprehensive management solutions that can regulate a mobile network while also increasing its value. The mad scramble for educational technology devices Survey results released some 18 months before the pandemic struck show that 82% of teachers agreed that educational technology tools such as laptops, tablet software, learning apps, smart boards, and student portals “have not only brought the classroom into the modern age but have also enhanced learning and teaching.” Widespread school closures in many markets because of lockdowns resulted in a rapid increase in demand for mobile devices to meet the need for distance learning. This has led to a significant uplift in demand for devices such as laptops, tablets, Chromebooks, touchscreens and other digital tools. Along with contributions from the private sector, Edtech Evidence Exchange estimates that the US collectively spent between $60 to $75 billion on ed-tech in 2020! School systems differ in many dimensions and each system is likely to have different needs for ed-tech interventions, as well as unique infrastructure and capacity to enact such interventions. A smart first step for any school EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY In today’s super-charged information-driven society, educational technology is fast becoming a critical tool in achieving better learning outcomes. NADAV AVNI CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER RADIX TECHNOLOGIES 18KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINE EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY DEVICE MANAGEMENT FOR INTERACTIVE TOUCHSCREENS AND OTHER DEVICESEDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 19 KIOSK AND DIGITAL SIGNAGE MAGAZINENext >