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Augmented reality digital signage brings the Serengeti to the streets of Hong Kong

It's not about the content, the hardware or the software; it's about the experience. Can digital signage take people out of the everyday and give them a memorable, maybe even magical, experience?

August 14, 2014 by Christopher Hall — w, t

It's not about the content. It's not about the hardware. And it's not about the software.

It's about the experience.

Can digital signage or digital out-of-home advertising take people out of the everyday and give them a memorable, maybe even magical, experience?

That's what JCDecaux Cityscape in Hong Kong did in a recent promotion for HSBC Credit Card's Red Hot Festival, combining augmented reality and digital signage to turn a roadside bus shelter in to a window to another world.

Using a pinhole camera embedded in the bus shelter and augmented reality technology, JCDecaux and Mindshare used the shelter's digital signage display to show the street scene as it really was, with one big difference – there was a herd of zebras dashing through the cityscape.

The idea was to "ignite people's hottest travel wishes," JCDecaux wrote on its Facebook page — and the company quoted Mindshare executive Alfred Cheng on its website: "Apart from the strategic importance of its location, Bus Shelter's unique nature also makes it the best media to bring this idea to life. It provides a platform to combine real-time street views with AR effects to create a seamless yet surprising experience while it also allows time for people to enjoy the magical moment."

Watch the video below to see the deployment in action:

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