Advanced Applications
As you may have seen in the "
Solution Examples" section, the SpinetiX all-in-one digital signage solution is very simple to use. Yet the SpinetiX platform is able to give you much more: also included in your SpinetiX system are features pre-installed and ready for advanced applications such as video walls, kiosk applications, integration with 3G, GPS, RFID and much more.
Compared to display-only installations, kiosk applications and interactive displays offer extra services to consumers, like finding a route, reserving tickets, etc. Because of installation complexity and the exorbitant costs of the extra features required for such a service, only a very small percentage of digital signage installations are interactive. SpinetiX has included these services to its solution and made it ready to go.
To set up an interactive kiosk, simply connect a touch screen to the HMP100 via an USB cable. Then, with the help of a button interface, create your own content.
As soon as you have described your JavaScript interface, you’re done.
You can still go further: depending on the screen choice/parameter of the visitor/customer/resident/traveler who enters your space, different actions could be triggered. Imagine how can be controlled the opening of a door, printing of a receipt.... or whatever you can activate through the RS232 serial interface of the HMP100 device. View the overview of tested touch screen controllers
here.
Download this example and edit it with HMD software |
||||||
|
||||||
SpinetiX HMP100 simplifies the creation video walls. In digital signage, video walls find new applications in all industry segments.
- In public transportation, multiple displays are deployed along escalators. The content on the displays follows the user moving from one display to the next. This special effect increases the impact of the message to the user.
- In retails shops, hotels and bars, multiple displays are installed in the same hall to create an ambiance or a "leitmotif": animations can be created to move from one display to the next one, creating global effects.
In all these applications, the key technical requirement is the possibility to synchronize content
across different displays. With SpinetiX you don’t need a powerful PC anymore to control all the displays. When connected to the network, the HMP100 units are all time synchronous: creating video walls is thus as simple as to schedule content on different HMP100 units.
This approach is fully scalable: the number of displays to be controlled, how far they are installed from each other, is up to you. You also decide how to combine multiple sources and split them on the target displays. SpinetiX guarantees that the content will be played synchronously on each unit.
Download this example and edit it with HMD software |
||||||
|
||||||
In digital signage applications, the display controls cannot always be connected to a LAN. The SpinetiX HMP100 however can be a truly mobile device when coupled with a 3G router (e.g. Option's GlobeSurfer) or with a 3G modem (3G USB modems).
Setting up a connection to a 3G router is straightforward: once the 3G router is up, configure HMP100 for DHCP and plug it to the 3G router via an Ethernet cable.
3G enables truly mobile applications or dispersed applications wherever wired access is not convenient. When coupled to the pull mode functionality of HMP100, 3G data service can be restricted to the low rate hours and save on costs. To save even more, the HMP100 will not download the whole content, but will only refresh what has been changed since its last update. At the same time, HMP100 will upload the logs for analysis (e.g., for billing). Check out the tested 3G USB modems.
Tip: Multiple HMP100 units can be connected to a single 3G router.
Integrate your HMP100 with a global positioning system (GPS) and your are ready for location-aware content. For example a taxi fitted with HMP100 will display local restaurants and shops advertisements depending on its location, or the destination of its course. A ferry boat could map its exact location with estimated arrival time etc.
GPS devices are easily integrated with the HMP100. The GPS device is connected through the serial port of the HMP100 device. GPS data are regularly reported to the content on display through JavaScript, and the content adapts itself consequently. Through the use of JavaScript, the possibilities of interaction with the actual content are virtually unlimited: would you need the direct display of the real-time positioning data, or display after processing or through any kind or indirection, the possibilities are endless.
It is also possible to log the coordinates for later analysis and reporting. Any RS-232 GPS device using NMEA-0183 protocol is supported. Support for device specific NMEA-0183 protocol extensions can also be easily added by the user.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) introduce yet a new set of other interactive applications: inquiries on a specific item.
An RFID receiver can be easily integrated to the HMP100 through the serial port. When a product is placed next to the RFID reader, it gives the RFID number to the HMP100 who then contacts a company database. In return the HMP100 gets the corresponding product information and displays it.
The integration is very simple. Only the protocol description of the RFID receiver needs to be written so that the HMP100 can interpret the data. The HMP100 will then report the data from the receiver to the content via JavaScript. Of course other similar scenarios can be imagined as the possibilities of JavaScript are virtually unlimited.
Play with video streams on your digital signage display as you do with any other media: it is as straightforward as using text or pictures within your projects. You are only left with the choice of which source to stream from.
In the case of an IP web camera (Axis, …) the live video stream is directly available on the network, no need for any additional hardware besides the IP camera.
For streaming a TV channel, you will need an antenna and a tuner to capture and demodulate the RF signals. The resulting signal has to be coded into a bit stream before being sent to the network.
Dedicated IP streamers such as TV Gateway from Exterity are exactly doing this. They capture the TV signals and encode them to a multicast stream onto the network. The HMP100 takes it from there.
Read more or check out the
tested streamers.
Download this example and edit it with HMD software |
||||||
|
||||||
The HMP100 can retrieve live and up to date datafeeds from local, network or internet resources. The format of the datafeed source is most commonly RSS based on XML but with the HMP100 you retrieve as well CSV, text and iCalendar files. Many content providers (e.g. CNN, BBC...) publish their content in this format over the internet. Note that although an RSS feed can be freely accessed from a web browser, you may not have the right to display it in public places without the permission of the owner of the content.
You can find here a few examples how to instruct an HMP100 unit to display live RSS feeds by using SVG and JavaScript languages. You can use these templates freely for your application.
Download this example and edit it with HMD software |
||||||
|
||||||
The SpinetiX platform has built-in instant messaging capability. This system allows the display of customized content integrated in to any content without interrupting it. The displayed information can be used for announcements as for example that the car for Mr. Smith is ready at a car hire desk. Or for queue management to call the next person waiting (e.g. ticket 34 please go to counter 2). The instant messaging system can also be used for campus or location communication of emergency messaging or crisis situations management such as evacuations or fire warnings.
The instant messaging system is built in to the platform and is easy to use. Using a standard web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or a custom application authorized users can send messages to a screen, screens or all screens. The project defines how each display will act when a message is sent and the system will deliver over the network the information where required.
Download this example and edit it with HMD software |
||||||
|
||||||
