- A waterfall array of Christie MicroTiles is inviting customers into the retail stores of Canadian media company Shaw Communications, where the digital display technology educates customers about Shaw’s cable television, Internet and phone service.
Since the first 4-units high by 6-units wide array was installed in May at the Sunridge Mall store in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the displays are now up and operating in three more Shaw retail locations in Alberta and British Columbia, with more installations planned in the future.
“We wanted to make the stores exciting enough so the customer would look at the displays and see a reason to walk into the store,” said James Ferguson, national director, Retail, Shaw Communications.
Combining proven DLP technology with the long life and reliability of LED, Christie MicroTiles are designed for maximum image quality in indoor, high-ambient light environments. At just 16 inches wide by 12 tall and less than a foot deep, they are useful for a wide range of applications, including architectural elements, out-of-home advertising, command and control video walls, and event production.
According to Ferguson, Shaw – parent company of Global Television – wanted a technology that would give it a “leg up” on other stores and Applied Electronics had already installed a 4-high by 10-wide MicroTiles array in Global Television’s Toronto studio for its morning news show. Familiar with the Toronto installation, Julie Shaw, vice president, facilities, design and management at Shaw Communications, suggested MicroTiles as an option.
Having decided on Christie MicroTiles, Ferguson and his team needed to decide where to put them and what content to show while creating a visual experience that would take advantage of Christie’s technology.
Rather than have all 24 MicroTiles depicting one piece of content simultaneously, Ferguson opted for a waterfall effect with the tiles slightly staggered with gaps along the X Y and Z access in a bracket designed by RP Visuals. Content including media, new products and services, in market offers and community initiatives are shown as individual thumbnails on the MicroTiles, allowing each piece of content to cascade across the whole screen, before pulsing back into one thumbnail. Hanging from the ceiling in each store, the waterfall configurations catch the attention of those who enter the store and those passing by.
“We wanted to give our video people a cool ‘sandbox’ to play in that provided content versatility and didn’t limit their imagination,” said Ferguson. “Christie MicroTiles did just that with the content provided by Breakhouse. Our customers’ eyes are drawn to it because it is so different from what they are used to seeing.”
