04 July, 2016

The Need

With shopping centres facing increasing competition from online retail spending, it has become imperative for successful centres to proactively embrace new technologies.

The Engagement

The People Behaviour & Technology Integration (PBTI) research group at the Nimbus Centre, CIT, have teamed up with the management of Mahon Point Shopping Centre, Munster’s largest shopping destination, to face this problem head on by introducing innovative shopping centre kiosk technology that is enhancing the shopping experience for Mahon Point customers. The kiosks form part of a new generation of interactive digital signage technology that is changing the face of retail shopping and smart city management by encouraging increased public interaction and user engagement. The PBTI research group have installed three kiosks at Mahon Point in an initial phase of an interactive consumer experience that will also include a 3D mobile application and further interactive digital signage. The interactive shopping centre system has been developed by the research group as part of their ongoing European project research which primarily focuses on people behaviour monitoring and modelling for the purpose of developing innovative applications and systems that strengthen user engagement, enjoyment and retention.

The Benefits

The Mahon Point kiosks offer a range of services for customers including 3D wayfinder map, gift card balance check, store facilities, information, special offers, Omniplex listings, activity listings, bus timetables, job vacancies, and shopping centre news updates. Advanced analytical abilities have been integrated into the kiosks’ operations by the PBTI group to enable both the research group and shopping centre management to observe and monitor first-hand how people interact with their technology. Having their system deployed in at Mahon Point has allowed the PBTI group to extend their research test-bed into this real public space and is making it possible for the group to observe and study genuine public interactions with their technology in real time.

Critical Success Factors

The anonymous data collected via the kiosks is being analysed and processed by the research group to facilitate the development of new algorithms that are being leveraged to create novel applications in the energy and smart city management space. For the shopping centre management, as well as, providing a useful and entertaining interactive service for their customers, the kiosks are enabling managers to gain a much clearer understanding of their customers’ needs and expectations and are generating valuable real time analytics for advanced marketing and promotional purposes. Dr. Martin Klepal, head of the PBTI research group said, A key goal of our European projects is greater engagement with the industry and, such as, it is very satisfying to see our research applied in a commercial setting such as the interactive shopping centre system deployment at Mahon Point. We are also excited to announce that we are currently collaborating with Chinese partners and the University of Hainan (China) with a view to deploying our systems in China 2017.

For more information on the PBTI research group see www.peopleorientatedsystems.com

Contact us to connect your Enterprise with CIT. #CollaboratewithCIT