Embedded vision in signage (DOOH)

When compared to factory automation, security, automotive and mobile tech, the consumer electronics and digital signage industries are nascent markets in terms of video analytics and gesture recognition. While they currently represent a small fraction of the revenue driven by embedded vision, IMS Research expects significant growth over the next five to ten years. As part of a presentation given to the Embedded Vision Alliance Member Summit at the Xilinx Corporate Briefing Center in San Jose, IMS Research identified a current opportunity for embedded vision ICs in out-of-home signage applications of $430 million. This figure is inclusive of processors (ASSP, DSP, GPU, ASIC and FPGA) as well as image sensors being used directly for audience recognition and data capture. Driven largely by research from the recently released IMS Research study, The World Market for Digital Signage – 2011 Edition, the analysis for the EVA considered both print and digital displays, which total just over 11 million units worldwide.

The opportunity for embedded vision in signage is not only to provide audience interaction through digital displays, but also to enable audience metrics in print displays. This is important because the digital signage industry is under pressure to justify the added expense over print, and better metrics would aid in the ROI calculation. Uses for EV in both print and digital displays include gathering video analytics related to monitoring dwell time, recording audience engagement, tracking count of passerby and in some cases energy management.  Its implementation in digital signage further includes non-touch UI navigation and facial recognition—the latter of which is now moving into the area of emotion capture. Interesting proof of concept demos were seen for the retail industry at the Digital Signage Expo this year in Las Vegas, where Scala and Intel were demoing interactive displays using both touch and natural interaction for UI navigation. Other implementations were seen more recently at CEATEC in Japan, again from Intel demonstrating what can be done with augmented reality in a retail setting, and at Digital Signage World by Viscom in Duesseldorf.  At Viscom, an immersive interactive environment was created by Kalinka and Pfahl using the Microsoft Kinect and a projector to instantly change the décor of a bedroom setting, and building on the idea of augmented reality were print2web, who along with Digimarc, are pushing QR codes into more media and objects/products themselves.

When viewed in its entirety (including advertising), IMS Research estimates that the digital signage industry represented nearly $7 billion worldwide in 2010, with growth forecast at a 12% CAGR through 2015. Primary drivers were displays (including LED arrays), projectors for digital cinema and PCs, contributing $4.5 billion.

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