Intro:
For more than a decade, the Engineering Undergraduate Society has co-owned and managed a digital signage system that spans several buildings in the engineering complex at McGill University. These screens host content from numerous student clubs and organizations as well as from the Faculty of Engineering and the Career Centre.
Challenge:
Rebuild a digital signage network management system from scratch to create a centrally managed, scalable signage system. Expand the project across campus to other McGill units.
Work:
I built a new client-server content management and distribution system to replace the decentralized display system of earlier years. I used MySQL and PHP to create the back-end. I built a Flex-based web application to act as the central content management platform that allowed administrators to manage the screens in the network and the users on the platform. It allowed users to manage uploaded content, duration of display, emergency messages, and display location. The client was a desktop AIR application designed to operate on an Ubuntu remote-booting “thin” machine. I helped expand the system from the original 5 locations to 12 locations around campus. Finally, I built several experiments aimed at increasing user engagement with digital content including capacitive touch buttons allowing for navigation of the content and a card reader that emailed users the currently displayed content following user studies carried out over two years.
Inspirations & Credits:
Experimental interface inspired by samples made by Adriana Olmos.
