You may be excused in thinking that digital signage is all about adverting and while promotional and advertisements make up a large proportion of the uptake in this new technology, there are other uses for digital screens taken out of home.
Information
Providing information has become a key facet of digital signage technology. Hospitals, schools, colleges and universities have all taken to digital signage because of it’s ability to communicate in real time unlike traditional methods like notice boards and memos.
Wayfinding and timetable information are also well-suited to digital signage – even in outdoor locations and many high streets and railway platforms now have outdoor digital signage screens.
Unusual uses of DS:
There are however, other, less common uses of digital signage that have shown that there seems to be no end to the usefulness of this new technology.
Marriage proposal by digital signage
One of the most unusual uses of a digital signage screen has been a proposal of marriage. It is unclear whether the employee at Sydney Airport was the first person to use this new technology to propose marriage but either way, it certainly worked and his wife-to-be was delighted to accept.
Political messages
Following the success of digital signage in the advertising sector it was never going to be too long before politicians jumped on the DS bandwagon. Outdoor digital signage is now a feature of political campaigns and is in use in the recent UK parliamentary elections.
Wanted Criminals
The FBI in America have found a great use for digital signage by plastering mug shots and wanted posters across them they are finding it a great way to locate criminals. The FBI now has 430 digital billboards in 33 cities displaying wanted information.
Under the Knife
And even surgeons have found digital signage useful. Not only is the technology a great way of supplying patients with real time information but in a hospital in India the technology is being trialled in medical imaging and diagnosis. DS screens are linked across hospitals allowing doctors to send high quality and strong resolution medical images to other surgeons to help collaborate on a diagnosis.
