All-seeing Piccadilly billboard to track vehicles with targeted ads
A next generation billboard is to take pride of place in London’s Piccadilly Circus only this time its owner claims it has a lot more than just size and brightness going for it.
All-seeing Piccadilly billboard to track vehicles with targeted ads
Landsec has devised a next generation display which as well as being viewed can also view having been developed to spot specific vehicle make, models and colours with which it can respond with tailored adverts.
This novelty has already attracted the interest of big name brands such as Coca-Cola, Hyundai, Samsung and L’Oreal which have been queuing up to utilise the unmissable 790sq/m display, greater in scale than three tennis courts and packing 11m pixels into its surface area, equivalent to a greater than 4K resolution.
To pull off the hi-tech feet, an array of cameras have been subtly concealed behind the screen to keep an eye on traffic, pulling off feats such as jumping to a specific advert when a flagged car comes into view.
Replacing six separate screens on a junction familiar to tourists around the world, the screen will feature either multiple smaller advertisers as well as devoting the screen in its entirety to a major campaign every 10 minutes, similar to the world's largest screen placed in Times Square in New York.
Landsec portfolio director Vasiliki Arvaniti, said: “This screen can be electronically carved up as opposed to having individual screens. For the first time ever brands will have the opportunity to take over the entire screen.”
Having built the technology to make this possible the ball is now in the court of advertisers with the hope that they can spice things up with campaigns that respond in real-time to the changing streetscape and even the weather.
The iconic lights have been switched off for the past eight months to allow redevelopment to take place but Landsec remain tightlipped as to when the switch-on might take place - mindful to prevent overcrowding.
The launch campaign is expected to be a charity drive by Barnardo's.