Home   ›   News

Microsoft Readies FutureVision Gallery Demos

Skokie, IL -- Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, said it will unveil two new retail technologies to be featured in the high-tech FutureVision Gallery on the In-Store Marketing Expo show floor. The company is a main attraction in the gallery this year and said one of the technologies will be a "multi-touch and natural gesture customer display."

FutureVision is free to all attendees of the Expo, which runs Nov. 12-14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The In-Store Marketing Institute hosts the exhibition, and the gallery will present companies with smart carts, digital signage networks and other retail media tools. In addition to the new announcements, Microsoft will also have on display:

Microsoft Surface. AT&T is the first company to use Surface at retail, testing it in stores in New York City, Atlanta, San Antonio and San Francisco. The 30-inch interactive table display enables consumers to review mobile phone features simply by placing one on the table. Surface recognizes the phone and pulls up a graphic overview. Multiple phones can be compared side by side. Consumers can also physically drag and drop features such as ring tones onto a phone through the table.

ReflectView. Microsoft partnered with Reflect Systems, creator of ReflectView software, for a digital signage network that allows operators to control and schedule video content to dozens or thousands of displays all from one centralized location.

MediaCart. Microsoft partnered with MediaCart Holdings, maker of a detailed shopping cart system. Microsoft adds a loyalty card feature to the cart, where shoppers can scan their card at the cart to receive promotional offers, saved shopping lists and ads.

The FutureVision Gallery is one of six pavilions on the In-Store Marketing Expo show floor, which opens at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 13 and 14. Other specialized areas are the new P-O-P Design Pavilion, which will feature suppliers of materials and components used in creating displays, the returning Retail Media Forum, the Packaging, On-Demand and Digital Printing Pavilion, and Digital Signage Pavilion.

Published: October 2008

Source: In-Store Marketing Institute

More Reading