Digital Signs, Chicago-Style

Several dozen attendees of the recent Digital Signage Expo visited five real-world digital media installations in downtown Chicago during a three-hour tour. VM+SD went along, camera in hand. Below are highlights of what the group saw:

Hyatt Regency, Wacker Drive

The digital signage network at this 2000-room hotel included touchscreens that allow guests to register themselves and find their way to meeting rooms, while independent and multiple screen information centers provide a calendar of events, weather, traffic and airport departure schedules. Other signage networks display commercial television channels in the bars and restaurants, including 103-inch screens in the Hyatt’s bar.

The Legacy Condominiums, Michigan Avenue

This luxury condominium complex is being built in a former office tower that overlooks Millennium Park. To show prospects what the interiors of the as-yet-unfinished condos will look like, the project’s developer installed a pair of digital signage kiosks within the project’s sales center. Those interactive screens let prospective tenants see floor plans – and living-room window views – of specific units on the project’s 41st through 65th floors.

Virgin MegaStore, Michigan Avenue

The electronics department within this store features touchscreens that help customers find and learn more about digital cameras, cellular telephones, MP3 players, video games and i-Pods. Smaller-format digital screens offer product information for customers on demand, display movie previews and demonstrate how products actually work, all at the point-of-sale.

McDonald’s Restaurant, Clark Street

This two-story restaurant features digital signage carrying selling messages, commercial TV and a visual tour of McDonald’s history. The digital content is displayed alongside more traditional signage, backlit transparencies and dioramas featuring products manufactured in Chicago over the years.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Avenue

The Museum of Contemporary Art had a problem: How to better inform visitors about the numerous temporary exhibits it holds throughout the year? Digital signage provided the solution, replacing hundreds of standard paper signs and relieving greeters from repeating information again and again. The screens were placed at two high-traffic sites: at the museum’s front desk, and also near a side entrance on the building’s lower level.