Leading event technology supplier PSAV Presentation Services recently received the Digital Signage Expo East 2008 Content Award in conjunction with digital signage solutions provider X2O Media. The annual award is designed to recognize innovative and compelling creative content in digital signage, interactive technology, and out-of-home network applications. This year's award lauds the collaborative efforts of PSAV and X2O Media in creating an interactive, touch screen digital-signage network for the Hyatt Regency O'Hare hotel in Rosemont, Ill.
The Hyatt Regency O'Hare is one of the largest meeting and convention destinations in the Midwest. As the property's on-site event-technology partner for 25 years, PSAV led the project by designing a functional system that enables guests to interact with any of 13 strategically located 46-inch digital touch screen displays. X2O's Xpresenter platform powers the touch screen technology enabling each unit to integrate into the hotel's content-management system to ensure the most current meeting location information is presented. The display allows guests to access information about scheduled events, facilities, concierge services, amenities and airline arrivals/departures. Among the highlights of this application is a 3D map that illustrates how to navigate from one area to another, designed by X2O's Creative Services team.
X2O's Xpresenter platform includes content authoring, scheduling, distribution, and remote management applications. It allows PowerPoint users to produce broadcast-quality graphics that incorporate animations, clip art galleries, video clips, and real-time data sources — all without ever leaving the PowerPoint interface. Version 2.1 will introduce new functionality for interactivity, such as RFID, Bluetooth, and magnetic card readers for a personalized experience.
"Being the in-house event technology provider for more than 800 hotels, conference centers, and resorts worldwide affords us the insight to develop meaningful content and user interfaces that puts hotel guests in charge of the information they need to quickly locate their meetings, and personalized directions to their meeting locations," said Denis Lesak, PSAV national director, digital signage. "These days, touch screens are everywhere — cell phones, airport kiosks, bank ATMs. The deployment at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare is a strong indication that the days of hotel guests standing at a hotel event directory waiting for the digital sign to scroll through today's meeting list are numbered."
"This new breakthrough in digital-signage technology represents the next generation of interactive guest services that PSAV believes will soon be in high demand by hotels, resorts, and convention centers worldwide," said Digby Davies, PSAV CEO. "Together, X2O Media and PSAV have helped Hyatt Regency O'Hare to further position itself as a meeting and convention destination of choice in a highly competitive market.”
"We've long placed an emphasis on creating sophisticated, interactive content as a pivotal part of X2O's digital-signage technologies, so it's very gratifying to have our strengths in content development recognized by this award," said David Wilkins, X2O Media president and CEO. "By leveraging the combined expertise of X2O and PSAV, we were able to deploy a rich, interactive content solution that takes digital-signage networking well beyond simple text-based displays."
For more information on PSAV Presentation Services products/services, visit www.psav.com.
For more information on X2O Media products/services, visit www.x2omedia.com.
