TMCnews Featured Article

These days, people are accustomed to touchscreens. We have them on our phones, our tablets, and we are used to touching, swiping, pinching and all of that. So it was only a matter of time before a company decided to create a platform to power applications on large-screen public touch displays. That company is Spot Labs, and its goal is to bridge on and off line experiences.

The nine-month old company, which is staffed by industry veterans, knows that customers demand interactivity on every screen, and it wants to help businesses meet that expectation in the physical world. People walk up to screens and touch them, and the folks at Spot Labs, with assistance from Strategic Telecom Solutions (the company that handles the wireless enablement through the Sprit network), want to use that knowledge to help the market grow. The technology won’t solve every vertical’s problem, but if deployed in the field, it can be of great benefit to certain companies and many consumers.

The technology is literally plug and play and, according to representatives from Spot Labs, the initial verticals served by the tech are retail and hospitality, though the platform can deliver an interactive experience to any public place. It is set up so that app developers can work on the platform with the intention of creating an Android (News - Alert)-like ecosystem, with applications focused on user experience. This is a unique approach in the digital signage space, which usually involves companies creating applications and putting it in a box, stifling interactivity.

One example of a successful deployment is Spot Labs’ relationship with Nike. Nike has a section in Footlocker retail stores called Nike House of Hoops. Nike has no employees on premise, just a dedicated space, but the footwear giant wanted to create a consistent brand experience nevertheless. So its creative agency built apps on the Spot Labs platform to leverage brand assets specific to these touchscreens. They are managed from a central location, monitored and updated. The applications provide player videos, designer information and on-demand content from Nike’s latest marketing campaigns. Customers can also download calendars by scanning QR codes. This gives Nike the interactive experience it desired even without dedicated employees.

Because of the M2M technology, these screens are independent of local networks or Wi-Fi, and can be placed anywhere and have consistent uptime. Spot Labs and STS chose to work with Sprint (News - Alert) because they needed access to information on the Internet, and being able to deploy connected screens on the Sprint network is a huge benefit.

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