Electronics show features digital wonders

Boom! Inspired shoppers pry their eyes from the hunting scene on a TV screen inside Bass Pro Shops and make a beeline for its gun counter. Bass Pro Shops just made another sale.

Such is the power of digital signage – TV screens placed throughout businesses to convey information and advertisements. Plasma screens can even be equipped with touch-screen computer overlays so customers can interact with them for maps or other information.

Digital signage will be one of the hot items on display at Electronic Video Systems’ Fall Video Showcase, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Oct. 19 at University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center. Admission is free and includes seminars, lunch and prize giveaways.

Other hot items should include high-definition cameras and Smart Boards, which are $1,500 electronic dry-erase boards equipped with computer interfaces, said EVS Vice President and General Manager Raun Hamilton.

Targeted use

Bass Pro will be one of about 400 EVS clients attending this year’s showcase. It’s considering upgrading its in-store TV set-up to a digital network of high-definition plasma screens.

The technological upgrade would allow Bass Pro to send video and other information over the Internet hourly from headquarters in Springfield to screens throughout the 34-store chain, said Steve Hargis, Bass Pro’s director of film and video production.

“The (digital signage) concept is to make it timely, to make it interactive and very targeted,” EVS’ Hamilton said.

For example, students at University of Arkansas can use an EVS-installed interactive digital sign to view campus maps and professor information.

Hands-on benefit

Hamilton expects more than 60 exhibitors at this year’s showcase. The gadgets featured will appeal mostly to professionals in the education, retail, security and communications fields.

EVS clients include the U.S. Army, Missouri State University, city of Springfield and Springfield’s Second Baptist Church.

Educators especially should be interested in Smart Board technology, Hamilton said.

Nixa Schools, for example, just bought 25 Smart Boards from EVS, mostly for its elementary schools.

EVS will teach two Smart Board classes during the showcase. Tickets are $95 and the classes require preregistration through www.evsinc.com.

David Liss, technology director for Nixa Schools, said Smart Boards have made learning more exciting for Nixa students. He said Smart Boards could also enhance corporate boardrooms, because they allow any presenter to interact more with their audience while using a computer.

“I could see it being used in a lot of different areas,” Liss said.