“SHARD” POWERED BY LOOKINGGLASS® TO BE UNVEILED AT VENDEX MIDLANDS 2019
Vendex Midlands 2019 will see the unveiling of a leading-edge vending platform, Shard powered by Lookinglass®. The innovation adds an extra layer of functionality to vending and signage technology and an advanced real-time consumer interaction and telemetry never before seen in the industry. Visitors to the show, held at The National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham, on Tuesday 9 April, are welcome to the Scobie McIntosh stand to have fun interacting with Shard.
Shard offers an unprecedented data capture function, using Lookinglass® gaze tracking technology to capture footfall near the machine and users’ interaction with the machine such as which adverts they have looked at. More extraordinarily, it can also capture the users’ ‘dwell time’ – their interest in the advertising or contents by monitoring how long someone looks at the product or advertising. What’s really fun is that Shard can engage with potential consumers from a distance, enticing them to ‘come over’.
This new experiential platform enables both vending and signage owners to sell or use space for advertising – in the case of vending with up to 25% greater screen real estate in comparison to alternatives on the market. The platform includes a connected social engine and CMS which has been used on global campaigns for over 6 years; allowing the marketing teams to create dynamic and interactive user experiences which are significantly more advanced than the competitors.
Shard is the result of a successful collaboration between three cutting-edge companies:
- Holograph, a software engineering business, created the Lookinglass® interactive screen technology, advertising platform, Flow CMS and the hardware controls for interactive signage and the vending machines.
- Scobie McIntosh build the final solution, supplying the screen, vending machine and touch screen components. They will be responsible for the distribution, maintenance and servicing of the machines.
- Regency Design and Print – design the custom mouldings, metal work and housing for the whole system. They also provide the customisation service available for all customers.
On designing the innovative technology, Marc Woodhead, founder and CEO of Holograph, says:
“We recognised some time ago that brands need to engage and connect with their consumers at all touch points. The vending industry was identified as a good target for Lookinglass® as there are so many environments a vending machine can be placed. Where there is footfall you have an audience to engage with. Lookinglass® allows consumers to engage with interactive advertising.”
Realising this potential Holograph invented an interactive experience with a vending machine showing adverts and enticing the consumer into the purchase funnel. With hyper-advanced telemetry, including all standard KPIs, the advertising and machine managers will be able to know how their consumers view their advertising, with response rates, head turns and much more. When viewing the product selections, Shard provides product view dwell time, as well as rich, real-time purchase data. Advanced and real-time hardware support management data such as vend failure rates, issues with the machine and negative machine interaction are also available.
Having the interactive advertising platform powered by Lookinglass® allows the owner to easily update content and find out which product(s) interested their consumers with the vast amount of data capture that can be gained from the gaze tracking technology.
Some of Shard’s features include:
- All standard telemetry plus advanced product and advertising view and dwell time data
- Tracking users gaze around the screen
- Records products purchased
- Cashless only platform
- Integrated Contactless payment
- Integrated QR code payment
- Important physical information (including uptime and failure) about the machine can be relayed in real-time
- Machine learning to support rapid reordering – option for fully automated ordering
- Links to other displays (in store) to continue promotion linked to a previously engaged consumer
- Connects a real-time user via an advert directly with that brand.
Ends
April 2019
