| "Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?" | | | | their yards. |
| Those words, made famous by the artificially | | | | |
| intelligent computer HAL 9000 in Stanley | | | | At Randy Dean Construction in Wichita, |
| Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" resound in | | | | another interactive digital signage system |
| my ears every time I think about the topic of | | | | using a Keywest Technology digital signage |
| this week's article: virtual assistants. | | | | controller, a touch-screen sensor interface |
| | | | from ELO and a 32in flat panel LCD greets |
| For those of you too young to recall, HAL was | | | | potential buyers as they enter a model home. |
| the artificially intelligent computer aboard | | | | While Randy Dean's sales agent can answer the |
| Discovery in the film that attended to the | | | | questions of one buyer, the interactive |
| myriad of details requiring oversight as the | | | | digital signage system can take other |
| ship's crew made its way to Jupiter. Its | | | | prospective buyers on full 360-degree virtual |
| seemingly omnipresent red camera lens | | | | tours of all Randy Dean homes, access and |
| monitored all ship activity. | | | | print floor plans, examine the builder's home |
| | | | inventory and access the company's Web site |
| With HAL's words still fresh in my memory, | | | | -all without taking the sales agent away from |
| even after all of these years, it is with a | | | | the prospective buyer. |
| bit of personal trepidation that I will | | | | |
| discuss how digital signage can be used to | | | | Out-of-home media specialist DSX Media in |
| add a virtual assistant to any sales or | | | | Wichita designed and delivered both systems, |
| marketing process. But don't worry, with this | | | | including creating digital signage content, |
| sort of application there's no danger of | | | | interactive branching and delivering digital |
| getting sucked out into the cold recesses of | | | | signage hardware and software, touch-screen |
| space. | | | | controller and flat panel LCD screen. In the |
| | | | case of Randy Dean Construction, DSX Media |
| As in "2001," the concept behind a virtual | | | | also sold advertising contracts to aligned |
| assistant is simple: make a complex process | | | | businesses like mortgage bankers and title |
| simple and manageable through the use of an | | | | companies so their commercial messages could |
| efficient, "intelligent" computer. Putting | | | | be interwoven into a loop of content that |
| that concept into practice here on earth is | | | | plays till the screen is touched. |
| helping two Wichita, KS, area businesses | | | | |
| extend their sales and marketing efforts and | | | | While the specifics of both applications |
| better serve their customers while freeing up | | | | differ, they share the concept of using |
| personnel for other critical tasks. | | | | interactive digital signage -a hybrid of |
| | | | digital kiosk technology and conventional |
| At Walnut Valley Garden Center in Andover, | | | | linear digital signage pages- to boost both |
| KS, outside Wichita, an elaborate, | | | | businesses' sales by in essence projecting |
| interactive digital signage setup helps | | | | the presence of a virtual sales assistant to |
| customers determine how much product they'll | | | | answer many of the questions consumers |
| need for a given landscaping or garden | | | | typically ask. Doing so elevates digital |
| project by combining maps from Google Earth, | | | | signage to a new plateau, somewhere far |
| a digital signage controller from Keywest | | | | beyond the role of an electronic equivalent |
| Technology and an Orion touch-screen LCD | | | | of a printed sign, where it becomes an |
| panel with a data base of landscaping | | | | integral part of an orchestrated sales |
| products that the store carries and their | | | | process. |
| recommended coverage area. | | | | |
| | | | Like all analogies, the one between the |
| Customers simply type in their names and | | | | virtual assistants in Wichita and HAL |
| addresses when using the system, and a map of | | | | eventually falls apart. While the garden |
| their individual property is summoned from | | | | center and homebuilder applications rely on |
| Google Earth. By touching the screen to | | | | some pretty specialized data bases to create |
| define the boundaries of their project, | | | | content on the fly that's relevant to |
| customers trigger a computer to determine the | | | | shoppers, neither uses artificial |
| types of products to use and how much they'll | | | | intelligence like the fictional HAL. Still, |
| need. For instance, by designating an area on | | | | the similarity in human-computer interaction, |
| the map, they can learn what type of | | | | conjures up that all-seeing red camera lens |
| fertilizer they need for their lawn and how | | | | in my mind's eye. |
| much to buy. | | | | |
| | | | Which brings me back to where I started this |
| For those who are new to gardening, the | | | | article: "Just what do you think you're |
| system cycles through digital signage | | | | doing, Dave?" Unlike "2001's" astronaut Dave |
| presentations encouraging them to touch the | | | | Bowman, who disconnected the technology, my |
| screen to select one of 12 different types of | | | | answer is to turn you on to the possibilities |
| gardens. After settling on a design, the | | | | of using interactive digital signage to |
| system allows customers to interact and tells | | | | create virtual assistants like the ones at |
| them exactly what's needed -including plants, | | | | Randy Dean Construction and Walnut Valley |
| mulch and rocks- to build a similar garden in | | | | Garden Center to boost your sales success. |