Cognition creates digital signage mannequin

Scala signage app "models" services for customers of Edinburgh beautician

Edinburgh managed services provider Cognition has created a full-scale digital "mannequin" as part of its signage offering for a local beautician.

Graham Pow, business development manager at Cognition, said the animated digital human model is based on a Scala app and "works" around the clock - unlike a real model - via three 42in LCDs to attract customers to the Zen Lifestyle outlet on Hanover Street, Edinburgh.

"The client wanted to have a window display that would grab the attention of potential customers who may be unfamiliar with the Zen Lifestyle brand, and the digital mannequin certainly does that," Pow said.

The signage was shot on a cinema-standard camera in Cognition's studio and based on a range of promotional material.

Scala software powers the screens, using a single-player licence and Zen can alter the HD content as required. Cognition performs monthly content updates, which allows Zen to create fresh professional content as its needs change, and meets with the client regularly to discuss the strategy for the months ahead.

Cognition has staff with experience in broadcast advertising as well as digital signage expertise.

"The digital mannequin is proving to be a greater pull than the traditional print window displays, with window viewing time averaging 60 per cent longer than the static equivalents," said Pow.

Laser phosphor displays (LPD) manufacturer Prysm announced its digital mannequin offering in June.

Prysm's digital mannequin is a free-standing, plug-and-play display that features four TD1 tiles stacked in custom-made, seven-feet-tall cases.

Steve Scorse, EMEA vice president at Prysm, said at the time that digital signage has become so widely used that increasingly creative solutions are sought.

"Within the retail environment digital signage is everywhere. With so many messages competing for attention and increasingly creative solutions, customer expectations have risen - making it a competitive space for advertisers to get noticed," Scorse said.

"The digital mannequin has been designed to recapture the customer's imagination by reaching them right on the shop floor in a larger-than-life fashion. This allows for more direct communication."

Prysm deployed five of its digital mannequins for Honeywell Aerospace at an aviation show in Las Vegas (pictured, right) in October. There, the mannequins were used to project large, synchronised images of new aeroplanes - viewable through a 178-degree angle - on the exhibition floor.