Digital Signage: NEC Eye Flavor reads consumers

Written by: Michael Keferl on December 19, 2008 at 7:13 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE, MARKETING IDEAS | No Comments

NEC continues on its quest to equip digital signage with with all the tools necessary to know everything about the consumers that enter its perimeter. The all-knowing ad is now a reality.

Eye Flavor uses an embedded camera to gather demographic information about visitors, but also to gauge how well particular advertisements affect those that see it. It can tell whether viewers simply glanced at the display, gave it a passing look, stopped, or ignored it entirely. From this information advertisers can know exactly which ads grab their targets in a real way, and the locations that host the displays can more specifically target advertisers with strong demographic proof.

More hands-on possibilities mean changing the ads to fit the crowd on the fly, and offering discounts/coupons in the form of QR codes for mobile phones.

To test the system, NEC had the Eye Flavor installed at the Granduo shopping center in Tachikawa for three weeks in October, and it’s now available for real utilization for about $20k.

NEC has been doing a great deal in the last couple of years, particularly for technology to gather demographic information about shop visitors and then track their movements. Other systems can track movements within a store, which items were visually attractive, time spent at displays, and other valuable data. We’ve gone into this a great deal in the Trendpool, where we highlight these among a wide range of new retail technologies.

Press Release from NEC

Tags: Digital Signage, Marketing, NEC
Category: DIGITAL LIFE, MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

Summer it-character Gegege Kitaro tie-in products

Written by: Rebecca Milner on July 23, 2008 at 11:51 pm | In MARKETING IDEAS | 2 Comments

If there was any question as to whether the latest (and deemed the most authentic) TV anime adaptation of the classic manga series Gegege Kitaro has struck a chord with audiences, then the release of several products featuring the spirit-monsters ought to be proof enough.

NEC is releasing a notebook PC with the Gegege characters, as redesigned by Devil Robots, laser-engraved on the top.

Two versions, the LaVie G type L standard (in berry blue or sugar pink) and the LaVie G type C are available in limited numbers from ¥82,908 and ¥162,645 respectively. Fans can choose from all or just one of their favorite characters.

On the other end of the price spectrum, Family Mart has announced a limited edition bento for the release of a full-length live action Gegege feature, “The 1000-year Cursed Song.” The “Ghost Rice Ball” lunch box features dishes inspired by the main characters and will be available, along with other assorted character products, from July 21 to August 4 for ¥1000.

Other Gegege products we’ve come across lately include this eyeball beach ball and ghost shaped floating device.

The manga series, originally called Hakaba Kitaro, by Shigeru Mizuki, debuted in 1959 and has been adapted for anime both on TV and the big screen numerous times, usually under the name Gegege Kitaro. With the beloved story just shy of its 50 year anniversary, Kitaro has a multi-generational fan base that means product tie-ins for every age group.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Gegege, here’s what the live version looks like.

And a clip of the classic opening sequence from a 1960’s animated version.

Tags: anime, computers, Family Mart, FMCG, Gegege Kitaro, manga, NEC
Category: MARKETING IDEAS
Other categories: DIGITAL LIFE, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS

NEC Automatic Speech Translation demo

Written by: Michael Keferl on December 9, 2007 at 11:42 pm | In DIGITAL LIFE | No Comments

We had a chance to see NEC’s functional version of their mobile Automatic Speech Translation (自動通訳) software this week. With a 50,000 word vocabulary, the software can be specially designed for different purposes such as travel and business.

The demo shown in the video is of the travel version on a DoCoMo phone which NEC sees as being useful for Japanese who need instant phrase translation instead of single words as most electronic dictionaries do. The average translation time from Japanese to English/Chinese is two seconds to recognize the Japanese and fourteen for the complete translation.

Tags: Mobile, NEC, Translation
Category: DIGITAL LIFE
Other categories: MARKETING IDEAS, LIFESTYLE / FASHION, PRODUCT INNOVATIONS