The experience of digital signage in the public spaces will continue to be seen as background noises, unless personalisation/interactivity is brought into the equation.

This however, may bring controversies (if not low cost marketing), but I think, given the early stage of digital signage development, we can demonstrate this as a learning in the public space.

So, here’s one scenario, and the theme is possibly democratising consumer participation in advertisement.

1. Customer inputs/swipe at a sensor – possibly a loyalty card, a mobile number, or credit card.
2. Customer’s face (fraction of a second scan speed of digitising face area is now technologically possible) may also be captured; besides choice of digital avatars.
3. Both being facets of an “ID” brings out a summary of bio-data (partial or updated), and face/avatar, for customer review, edit, and approval.
4. A background application ensure that any information provision in public domain is understood to be “decent”., during and post edit/approval.
5. An avatar/customer face is embedded in the digital signage with/without other personal info (name, lifestyle, etc.).
6. Multiple avatars for group of users should also be possible. An avatar should also be allowed to cross-transform amongst avatar members or with simulated avatars or roles.
7. The learning and discovery really begins, with media content and messages “flirting” with the avatars, and vice-versa, in the public space, with whatever marketing/campaigning goal in mind.
8. Another option is to allow a blogging site to also feed annotations on the control, media structure and content real-time.
9. OR During inert period of consumer participation at sensor placements, the blogging sites can participate in the annotation and orchestration – alternatively, the blogging site(s) can be the default participants/input construct here, as part of the advertising/marketing goal.
10. Outcome – is facebook/twitter-like democratisation, social constructivisim, mashup role in public digital signages.
11. This sort of bring, a more human angle – controversial or otherwise – into the consumer experience.

Reflect on what the German Professor did in his human body slices public musuem (…a gathering point). One may agree/disagree with the instance of the concept there – that simple presumptions in life is made gory/glorious in public spaces.

Could there be a “decent”, fun, business, and happy instance of the above concept be made available in public digital signages, and e.g. in driving footfalls into stores and transforming consumption.

Could Yahoo and Google of the worlds (aggregators of information and searches, and with huge consumer base), be sponsoring these signages together with other product/service advertisers and merchants.

The mind wonders…