Museums and history displays tell important stories about influential people who helped shape history. They are faced with the challenge of getting people interested and keeping them engaged when they are onsite. Museums, cultural centers, and art galleries are using digital signage to provide a more modern, engaging, and entertaining viewing experience.
Touchscreen Digital Displays
Touchscreens are a great way to get people more engaged with exhibits. Museums use touchscreen digital signage to create more controllable experiences. Visitors use touchscreens to view timelines, and browse through videos, images, and text. They can trigger animations, or even haptic feedback by using a tablet or kiosk.
The Arreya team helped create custom digital signage content for an aquarium with a water feature, designed to spray water at visitors as an animated shark crashes into the screen.
Digital Timelines
Timelines are great tools for putting historical events into perspective. Digital timelines are excellent tools for museums and history displays, because they add an interactive element to history. Visitors navigate through years of history on touchscreens, or with a keyboard and mouse. Anyone with permission can access timelines, giving museums more reach outside of their four walls. Content can be made public for everyone to view, or access can be limited according to each organization’s discretion. Some museums prefer to make content private because they want to prevent intellectual theft.
Digital Wayfinding
It’s easy to get lost in massive museums with multiple floors and countless exhibits.
Digital wayfinding is an excellent tool museums use to help visitors find their way around. Visitors can clearly see where they are currently located, and they can browse through various exhibits on screen to find one that interests them.
Digital wayfinding can include 3-D maps, directories, and even touchscreen interactions for each area of the building or campus.
Many museums add high resolution videos and images, along with a short summary, to each exhibit. Visitors tap on an image they’re interested in learning more about, and all the information they need is available.
Digital Signage is cost effective installation for museum exhibits. Using software like Arreya, easily change the digital content for revolving exhibits and new interactions during different months, days or even different times of day, depending on the audience.
Immersive Digital Experiences
Digital signage software is capable of more than just display and sound. Museums, aquariums, and national parks are using digital signage to create unique experiences.
Digital signage software interacts with motion detecting technology, like (company who sent us the test device.) Digital signage content changes as soon as motion sensors are triggered, creating an immersive experience. Museums use props with motion detecting tags on them and allow visitors to pick them up. When visitors pick up a prop, the corresponding digital signage content displays on screen, explaining the significance of the item the visitor is holding.
An old typewriter that Arreya digital signage programmed to work with a digital display, became the keyboard for the exhibit.
Increase Engagement and Entertainment
Overall, museums and cultural centers strive to entertain and teach new visitors. Digital signage is an excellent tool for them, because it allows them to customize their messaging and tell their stories with pictures, videos, and digital timelines. Visitors engage with exhibits through touchscreens, keyboards, and even typewriters. Digital signage software creates excitement, and modernizes exhibits.
Best Practices for Large Content Driven Presentations
Arreya lets you create presentations without page restrictions or limits on content. However, this freedom can cause unexpected experiences when dealing with large amounts of content. A large presentation gets affected by device limitations, internet speed, storage, and processing power. Yes you can create a presentation with over 200 pages and gigabytes of content but unless optimized, this content will not be easy for devices to deal with. Much like a web site there are best setups and recommendations to create it to be highly performing.
When a presentation gets really large with content, the usability gets complicated and affects both viewing and editing. A 200 page interactive presentation needs a lot of computing power, so it may not load properly, and a computer may lack the processing power to easily edit all 200 pages at once. If your internet speed is slow or lags, the entire presentation will take a long time to load, push live, and edit.
How to Optimize Large Content Driven Presentations
The good news is, with Arreya, you can still design and create a large content driven presentation by best optimizing it for performance. This optimization is achieved in Arreya by splitting up your content into multiple presentations. So now, you can divide one extremely large presentation into many smaller and more manageable sections. This multi presentation feature in Arreya is a game changer. It makes loading and organizing content much faster, and is included with every subscription. Arreya also has no limits on the number of presentations you can add and includes options to link presentations together for a seamless experience.
Taking advantage of this Arreya feature and using our optimization recommendations below will give you the best experience with your large content driven presentation.
Planning For Splitting Up Large Presentations
Splitting up presentations doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming. Understanding how to best organize your presentations is key at the beginning. The number of pages we recommend is 30 pages per presentation. But don’t be worried about having a lot less, that is even better. We have even set up some presentations with just one page linking to many sub presentations. There is no specific formula or equation to splitting up your content, but thinking about how to best divide up your content before you start will result in less reworking.
Split by Navigation Buttons
One way to split up your interactive content is to create a presentation for each navigation button. If there is navigation on your home page to 5 categories then a simple breakdown would be to create 5 presentations, one for each of those categories. Each button would then link to the corresponding presentation. This also helps you easily organize your content to just those pages, giving you less pages to sort through so you can quickly make edits and navigate.
Split by Categories
If you have lists or menus of content within a page then splitting off the listings into presentations would be best. This is a great solution for a donor listing that divides individuals’ content by an alphabetical list to choose from. So if your donor list had a section of names “A-D” the link would be to a new presentation, not to a page within the same presentation. The navigation on the “A-D” presentation would return back to the alphabetical listing on the previous presentation.
Now all your photos, content, and names can easily be added to the section they belong in. This is especially helpful for long listings, not only for donors, but also products or services can also be handled this way. Then, when you have new content to add, you can open the specific presentation for the category and make the change. This will take less time to navigate, load quicker, and make edits easy.
Split by Locations
If you are setting up wayfinding or directories, then the best practice is to split each area up into its own presentation. For campus mapping, you would split up the presentations to the buildings identified, then have all the details of each building in one presentation. If you have a hospital map you can set up a presentation for each floor or department.
Split by Content
Another best practice for large content driven presentations is to set up presentations based on the amount of content. Videos can have a lot of loading time for rendering. They are the largest content type to work with, so if you have a lot of videos, try to split them evenly onto presentations. 2-3 videos per presentation is a good target. If you have more make, sure to split them up. Images can also add up and need to be planned around. If you are having lots of gallery photos or slideshows, say for a yearbook or history wall, we recommend you split those off into presentations, then create navigation to return to the main presentation. 20 – 30 images per presentation is a good target. If you have more images split them off into additional presentations.
Setting up Multiple Presentations
Start by designing your home page and top level content as a presentation. After you determine your overall design, layout, and navigation, you will want to save out pages and presentations as templates. Now you can begin additional presentations by importing template pages into the layouts. This speeds up layout time so that they will look and feel seamless. When setting your navigation you will then link your presentations together under the widget options. Make sure to change which presentation is selected as the destination, then choose the page in that presentation you want to go to, and finally name the button.
Optimizing Tips In General for Presentations
Naming Pages – When you add a page to your presentation, name it in the settings. Choose the name based on what you would title a button for this page to be called. This way when you select a page as a touch point, it will automatically name the button as the page name. This saves you from typing in a name every time, which adds up over 100+ pages of design.
Video Length – The longer the video, the larger the file size. Can the video be broken up into smaller sections? If possible, we recommend using videos under 30 seconds to keep viewers engaged with your display. Arreya has a file upload limit of 2 gigabytes, and long videos may reach this limit.
Plan for Growth – If you know you will be adding sections or content for new events or areas, set up navigation and additional presentations to leave room for adding future content. This will prevent having to redesign areas or all your pages in the future. Instead you can hide these links in the initial design, and in the future, make these areas visible, and link to a new presentation you can add the new content to.
That covers many of our recommendations for optimizing large content driven presentations in Arreya. We hope you now know some best practices our designers use, and understand how to best approach a large content driven presentation. We are always here to help, and can answer additional questions.
Vying for the attention of customers has never been more difficult than it is today. Consumers have limitless choices and greater access to information than ever before. Organizations need to find creative ways to advertise their products and services. Businesses are turning to digital displays for advertising, presenting their products and services in the most professional light possible.
Customizable Advertising
For many organizations, advertising to their customers is not one size fits all. Many firms have complex products with multiple options and combinations. Customer demographics may vary greatly, even within the same product category. Digital signage software is a powerful tool for customizing advertising and reliably displaying ads. Combining APPSHEET with digital signage software gives users the ability to upload and display thousands of different product options. Customers navigate through product offerings with ease thanks to AppSheet, and digital signage software allows users to access from anywhere with a stable internet connection.
Businesses can easily update or add new products and services and updates take effect in real-time. LEARN MORE about using digital signage for advertising.
Customer Interaction
The user experience must be considered throughout the entire sales process. Users are demanding more control over their experiences today, and digital signage software affords them that control. Interactive digital displays allow users to browse through full ads, or parts of ads in which they’re most interested. They can either use a mouse and keyboard, touchscreen displays, or QR codes on screen to navigate through advertisements and offers on their smartphones. Motion sensing technology integrates with digital signage software, allowing customers to pick up physical items and see detailed information on screen. For instance, a soda company could have four cans of soda, and different correlating slides in a slide show for each can. When someone picks up a can, the correct corresponding slide appears on screen.
Increased Sustainability
Paper ads are costly, difficult or impossible to update, and less sustainable than their digital counterparts. Paper ads often need to be thrown away after use, there are material and printing costs to consider, and also labor cost associated with placing and replacing signs.
Digital signage software eliminates labor and material costs and increases sustainability. Making changes to ads is easy and fast with digital signage software, and users can schedule ads to run at certain times throughout the year. Digital signage has become increasingly popular in retail applications for this reason.
Easy and Scalable Advertising
Businesses with multiple locations and markets need solutions that allow them to advertise at scale. Advertisers use digital signage software to deploy targeted ads anywhere with a stable internet connection. Updates and edits are easy to make, and are displayed instantly after changes are published.
Also, because the Arreya content design software is a WYSIWYG, all the content is live. You know what is being show on your devices and with Chrome Enterprise Management, you know your devices are working.
Professional and Credible Advertisements
Digital displays add a level of professionalism to an organization. Well thought out ads, focused on getting across clear messages, resonate with customers. Professionally designed digital signage content looks great and adds to the credibility of businesses. The Minneapolis Airport recently added four large digital displays for improved messaging and advertising. LEARN MORE about the role digital signage plays in modernizing this international airport.
Modern Advertising Solutions
Overall, using digital displays for in-person advertising is an excellent way to communicate with potential customers. Digital signage software makes it easy to update and scale advertisements to any device with a stable internet connection. Digital displays modernize the user experience and add a level of professionalism and credibility to brands. Implementing technology strategically and regularly helps organizations advertise to the right audience, at the right time, with the right tone.
The AOpen Ace Mini is the latest offering in AOpen’s line of commercial grade media players. AOpen is a division of Acer, and a reliable hardware provider. The way the Ace Mini deviates from the previous Chrome offerings, is that it supports multiple operating systems, and is certified by Google to work with ChromeOS Flex. ChromeOS Flex brings all of the great benefits of ChromeOS and Chrome Enterprise Management to almost any device.
The AOpen Ace Mini is a great entry level media player that is perfect for single screen signage or simple interactive kiosks. Like the previous commercial grade devices from AOpen, the Ace Mini comes with a fanless enclosure that’s easy to mount for kiosks and enclosures.
The reliable, fanless AOpen Ace Mini paired with ChromeOS Flex and Google Chrome Enterprise management is the perfect combination for reliable digital signage installations that are easy to manage and will last.
We vigorously test all new products before recommending them to clients. The AOpen Ace Mini is no exception. Each time we test a device, we leave the device running for multiple weeks, 24/7, and perform multiple stress tests. Testing includes benchmarks that max out the GPU and CPU on the device to ensure clients won’t receive devices that die right out of the box.
The second battery of tests includes testing in real scenarios, using the same displays and touch screens that we recommend to our clients. This includes testing responsiveness on top of basic compatibility tests. These tests are performed to ensure that clients get the performance and reliability they need out of every device we recommend.
The form factor of the AOpen Ace Mini makes it a good choice for an installation with limited space. Arreya always recommends fanless devices because the reality is, nobody is going to clean the fans once the device is installed. The fanless design and the reliability of this device is perfect for kiosks or any situation where device access is difficult.
The AOpen Ace Mini is a perfect addition to AOpen’s line of commercial grade devices. The features and capabilities of the device fill the needs of our clients on multiple levels. Even though it is an entry level device, the Ace Mini is capable, and it meets Arreya’s strict requirements for client recommendation.
Things have changed a lot in the classroom over the last two decades. Students have gone from hauling around backpacks full of heavy textbooks to reading off of tablets and laptops. The usage of this technology not only provides convenience today, but it prepares students for the utilization of future technologies. Following is over 10 ways to use digital signage for school districts.
Schools need a way to display pertinent information to students and faculty, and it needs to be secure, efficient, and reliable. Digital signage is the technologically advanced solution. Enterprise digital signage solutions provide schools the tools they need to display anything they deem valuable to students and faculty and the ability to remotely manage and communicate.
1. News and Announcements
Digital signage software makes it easy to keep school announcements up to date. It can be used to answer the all important question: what’s for lunch? In fact, with the use of excel spreadsheets or Google sheets, the lunch menu can be fed to the software, automating the process. Someone in the cafeteria simply needs to access a spreadsheet containing the lunch menu, and they can update the menu items for the week or schedule the month.
Students and staff can see the menu on the screen as soon as the content is pushed live. Schools don’t need to spend time announcing news and lunch over intercoms every morning anymore, making more time for learning. READ HOW Oak Lawn Community High School saves time everyday with Arreya Digital Signage.
Many schools have countless events throughout the year, football games, parent teacher conferences, and concerts just to name a few. It can be difficult to keep up with, especially if all the signs are paper or handmade. They often need to be thrown away or replaced after the date of the event has passed. Digital signage not only makes it convenient for events to be updated, but it also reduces waste.
2. Wayfinding and Orientation
Trying to make it to all the new classes on time can be stressful, especially if it’s a student’s first year in a new building. It’s easy to forget where all the classrooms are and when each class starts. Wayfinding can reduce some of this stress. Digital signage can come into play here to direct students to the right classroom from day one. It can also display when each class begins and ends. If the presentation is made public, students can access this information right from their phones or laptops.
Maps of the school can be displayed and updated in real time, so if you have new teachers, classes that need to be added, or renovations that are being done, you don’t need to create a new map altogether and throw out the original. This allows teachers to be more flexible and utilize classrooms that best serve the needs of each individual class, while simultaneously showing students where they need to be throughout the day.
3. Roll Call/Attendance
Trying to keep track of student attendance can be a difficult task, and it’s imperative that staff know where students are at all times. Digital signage can help by allowing students to interact when they come in or out of a class. They could be required to type their name, upload a file, or simply touch the screen to show that they are physically where they need to be.
4. Digital Assignments
The more technical and digital skills students can learn, the better. Some schools are already allowing students to create and upload presentations to their digital signs as assignments. Teachers are able to monitor the content they upload prior to pushing it live to their screens, so there’s no risk of inappropriate content being uploaded. Students get to see the work they did come to life on devices across the school, whether it’s artwork, something they wrote, or just a normal powerpoint presentation. CHECK OUT other ideas on how students can get involved with digital signage software.
5. Alerting Students and Faculty of Danger
While everyone is at school to learn and grow, safety is always the number one priority. In the event that there is ever a lockdown situation, or impending dangerous weather, digital displays have the ability to notify everyone instantaneously. The signs can display instructions to everyone on where to go and what to do, reducing panic, and giving people vital information they need to stay safe. Digital signs can be connected to softwares like ALERTUS , which allow staff members to push alerts to all signs with the tap of a button on a smartphone. A few seconds could make the difference in a dangerous situation. That’s why having a plan in place is so critical.
6. Cancellations or Delays
Every winter, schools in cold-weather states have to deal with snow, ice, and possibly frigid temperatures. Occasionally, the decision needs to be made on whether or not school should be delayed or if a snow day is in order. Administrators can use digital signage software to push out notifications if school or extra curricular activities are delayed, postponed, or canceled. As long as the content is public, anyone can access it from their own device to stay up to date, extending communication beyond students and faculty. CHECK OUT how Franklin Middle school uses Arreya Digital Signage. See how digital signage meets their challenge of engaging with stakeholders outside of their school building and motivating students.
7. Graduation Ceremonies
Graduation is a time for everyone to celebrate. The students’ hard work has paid off, and now it’s time to recognize them. Digital signage can be a great way to do this, not only because it looks great, but because it’s extremely easy to implement. It would work particularly well for a graduation ceremony, because a spreadsheet could be used to feed information about the graduates, similar to the lunch menu we mentioned above. In fact, once the format for the graduation presentation is set, a new spreadsheet could be uploaded each year, and the information on the signs would be updated automatically. This removes the need to print or create new signs each year, reducing waste, and saving time and money.
8. Display Educational Material
Teachers can utilize digital signage software in their classrooms by displaying content relevant to their courses. They can upload previous lectures, notes, videos, deadlines for projects, or the class syllabus. Teachers can even allow students to comment on course related topics, and everyone would be able to see what they wrote on the display.
9. Secure Displays
One of the biggest concerns that come to mind with digital signage in schools is hacking. The last thing parents and faculty want is something inappropriate being displayed on their screens. There are many options in terms of locking things down, but one of the best we have found is Google Chrome’s kiosk mode. Kiosk mode prevents students or anyone else from tampering with or changing the content that is being displayed. It won’t allow them to access the web browser, and it won’t allow them to change any text, images, or any other content that has been scheduled. CLICK HERE and Google explains kiosk mode and how to activate it.
10. Social Media
Schools can use digital signage to display live feeds from their Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram accounts. This is just another way to engage with students and update them on what’s going on. Some schools will have Twitter accounts for each team or club they have, and they will post updates on scores or competitions throughout the year. Digital signs are an excellent way to display all of these social media accounts on one screen at the same time.
Total School District Integration
Digital signage software can play a vital role in keeping both students and faculty up to date and engaged. It’s also a great tool to communicate with stakeholders outside of school. It can be used to keep people safe by integrating alert software, and it can be used to recognize students and faculty for their achievements. Hopefully this post gives you some ideas on how digital signage software can benefit your school, not only saving time, money, and resources, but by enriching the learning experience as well.
Chrome Enterprise Recommended is Google’s partner program for third-party solutions verified as meeting technical and support standards for Chrome OS. Google-verified program helps organizations identify solutions that meet or exceed global standards for security, management and deployment. Arreya was chosen by Google to be a Chrome Enterprise Recommend Kiosk and Digital Signage Solution.
Making It Easy to Choose Kiosk and Digital Signage Solutions
Google wants enterprises to succeed. They remove the painful trial and error that businesses go through to find reliable, secure Chrome OS communication solutions. Google does all the work. They find, interview and test cloud softwares. Then they compile them into specific categories, like kiosks and digital signage. This saves enterprises valuable time and money.
Google has always been at the forefront of technology, looking for emerging trends and solutions for better communications. COVID-19 pandemic pushed the advancing trend of remote offices and work-from-home quickly forward. Something that was optional became mandatory overnight. Businesses scrambled to find the communication tools that would connect a remote workforce. (LEARN MORE) They encountered issues in:
Security
Deployment
Cost
Management
Businesses had to get these new tools overnight, giving no time for verification of solutions. That is where the Chrome Enterprise Kiosk and Digital Signage Solution fill the need. The verified solutions have already been tested and verified to meet the strict standards that Google set.
The Chrome Enterprise Recommended Partners (CER) grew from the need for enterprises to easily find and implement verified Chrome OS solutions for different communication platforms.
Aligning with Google for Chrome Enterprise Solutions
Security.
From the beginning, Arreya was developed to work with the Chrome OS devices including Google phones and tablets. Along with the Chrome Enterprise Upgrade, businesses can deploy digital signage that is secure and powerful for today’s cyber world. As a Chrome Enterprise Recommended Kiosk and Digital Signage partner, Arreya makes it easy to communicate.
Chrome OS includes regular security updates and built-in protection. It blocks executable files and partitions operating system files so they can’t be modified. (LEARN MORE)
Chrome devices with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade can be locked into kiosk mode. Removing the temptation for anyone to access multiple apps or change digital signage to unwanted URL’s. Arreya channels will be the only thing viewers see on screens.
“In developing Arreya in 2014, we knew we wanted our digital signage suite to be accessible by anyone, with no proprietary hardware,” said Jill Burgess, president of Arreya. “Google Chrome devices give clients nonproprietary hardware that anyone can afford, with the reliability of Google. Our partnership has allowed Arreya to grow and give our clients the freedom to remotely manage content and hardware.”
Deployment.
Chrome OS digital signage and kiosk hardware devices deploy fast with automated download of user apps. (SOURCE)
Commercial grade Chrome OS devices from leaders in technology, are available through the Arreya online store. All devices come with the Arreya white glove service. It pre configured Chrome OS hardware with Chrome Enterprise Upgrade and the client Arreya channel. Giving a plug-n-play experience.
All Arreya channels have the ability to be viewed and managed from anywhere as a progressive web app. The PWA feature makes it easy for enterprises to seamlessly move to remote and hybrid situations without losing communications. Apps can be installed on any Chrome OS device without going through the Google play store. Chromebooks can have the Arreya channel installed as an app for instant access.
Cost.
Chrome OS with Arreya is designed to reduce the cost of communications. The combined reliability of Chrome Enterprise devices and the Arreya support reduce deployment, upgrade and training costs. Chrome OS devices and Arreya have automatic updates. This reduces employee downtime and IT support costs in waiting for software and firmware updates.
The hybrid and remote distributed workforce redistributes the costs of communications. Instead of funds used for in-person information, such as posters, brochures and other printed materials, communications become electronic. The security of the Chrome OS and Arreya platform allow for all communications to be accessed by individuals through secure, cloud avenues. Human resource benefit packages, quotes and proposals, data and spreadsheets can be viewed through an Arreya channel.
In-person training can be transitioned to training videos and with Arreya pinpoint management, specific groups can be given access for viewing at any time. Reducing the down time used for training and reviewing by field employees.
This shift to online communications is a smart and eco-friendly investment. Reductions in waste and pollution are significant and help the planet. (LEARN MORE)
Management.
Through the cloud-based Google Admin Console, IT can configure more than 500 policies from anywhere, control device updates, take screenshots, reboot and install or manage apps from anywhere.
Paired with Arreya Digital Signage, anyone can manage digital content and hardware remotely. Know exactly what is happening without in-person visits. Know who is watching and when.
Meeting the Chrome Enterprise Recommended Requirements
Arreya was tested by the Google team of Partner Managers and Engineers to determine if the digital signage suite meets the CER requirements. Arreya meets or exceeds all the requirements.
Deployment – After configuring app in admin console, device boots successfully into kiosk mode and runs Arreya Digital Signage Suite.
Online Longevity – Arreya can run in kiosk mode for 72 hours without device reboots, with an active internet connection, unattended and maintain responsiveness.
Offline Longevity – After completing online longevity, run under the same conditions without an active internet connection.
Online Reboot – After initial run and defined configuration, app will restore same state after device reboot.
Offline Reboot – After initial run and defined configuration, app will restore same state after device reboot without an active internet connection.
PWA Plan – Arreya needs to be a working PWA
Fall Gracefully – If Arreya encounters a critical error, it should fall gracefully, restoring itself to an appropriate working state.
The Rise of New Digital Experiences
The new Chrome Enterprise Recommended partnerships expand the possibilities for different types of communications and collaborations. A powerful and secure platform that is supported by the Google and Arreya team. You can literally launch anywhere.
In kiosk and digital signage the Arreya digital experiences are endless. Beyond the monitor on a wall, digital signage is store menus, interactive displays, customer kiosks and employee kiosks-anywhere on any device you can view digital content. Within each of those categories solutions for wayfinding, concierge, ticketing, room bookings and manufacturing data kiosks are just a few of the possibilities for Arreya with Chrome Enterprise.
