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Bryan Meszaros: Founder, OpenEye

Formed in 2003, OpenEye is a digital media consultancy, which looks to redefine how brands and retailers engage with consumers through a strategic digital in-store experience. With studios in New Jersey, New York, San Diego, London, and Moscow, OpenEye has worked with brands including The Nuance Group, The Corcoran Group, Apple, and Penske. In 2000, while working as the director of new media initiatives for MarketSource, Meszaros helped lead the development of the first university-based digital out-of-home network in the United States called Campus Central. At the age of 23, he went on to form OpenEye and was awarded one of the first ever DIGI Awards for his work with Regency Duty-Free (The Nuance Group) in New Zealand. OpenEye’s success continued as it worked with organizations like FITCH, Apple, Santander US & UK, McDonald’s New Zealand, and Vodafone.

Meszaros serves on the board of directors for SEGD and is also part of the advisory board for DSE & CETW. As an active speaker and contributing author, he is featured in publications and often invited to speak at conferences.

OpenEye Completes Digital Signage Rollout for Leading U.S. Bank

OpenEye, a global digital media consultancy, has announced the completion of a multi-million dollar, full rebranding initiative for one of the 25 largest retail banks in the United States. The company also is working to expand the digital merchandising program for the bank’s UK entity.

OpenEye upgraded more than 700 branch locations with 1,500 digital displays by creating a dynamic, modern environment, including a digital merchandising program that allows the bank to communicate more frequently and effectively with its customers. The program – designed and implemented by OpenEye – allows the bank to display a variety of dynamic marketing messages, such as real-time rate information, localized offers and core product information.

“We look at the relationships banks have with their customers and the means in which they communicate with them to create and position a digital merchandising program,” said Bryan Meszaros, OpenEye managing partner. “The goal was to allow the bank to maximize the impact of their marketing messages and help increase customers’ awareness around new product offerings.”

Meszaros says more banks are turning to digital as they explore ways to upgrade their in-branch marketing and boost engagement with customers.

“Digital technologies have brought a major shift in consumer banking behavior. Brick-and-mortar branches will need to leverage the latest technologies to offer a personalized banking experience if they want to secure their place in the future. Digital tools are driving this transformation,” said Meszaros.

As banks explore ways to integrate digital solutions in their branches, Meszaros says no two clients are alike. That means the products and technologies that were successful with one client won’t necessarily work in the next project. Therefore, OpenEye engineers and designers listen to clients before they start to develop a solution and offer a customized approach.

“It shouldn’t just be a display on the wall – you should look at ways to integrate the displays within the design of the environment,” said Meszaros.

OpenEye is involved in all phases of the digital signage installation, from start to finish – and beyond. This includes conceptual design and content creation, either by OpenEye staff or one of its partners.

The company also completed projects at Provident Bank and Brooklyn Independence Community Bank, before it was acquired.

Bryan Meszaros of OpenEye Takes Tour of Burberry Store on Regent St. in London

Burberry has unveiled its new Regent Street store in London, after two years of renovation work, just in time for London Fashion Week.

“Burberry Regent Street brings our digital world to life in a physical space for the first time, where customers can experience every facet of the brand through immersive multimedia content exactly as they do online,” explains Angela Ahrendts, Burberry’s CEO. “Walking through the doors is just like walking into our website. It is Burberry World Live.”

Burberry‘s ultimate luxury customer service includes futuristic on-screen technology, bespoke digital signage on all floors and clever radio-frequency identification (RFID) which provides audio-visual content on selected items carrying microchips.

So when a customer takes a product and approaches one of the store’s screens in the common areas or in a fitting room, they have instant access to relevant information ranging from craftsmanship to catwalk looks.

Exerpt from “Inside Burberry’s London Flagship Store” by Christopher Parr

Digital Signage Expo Distinguished Faculty Recognized

Digital Signage Expo (DSE) Distinguished Faculty and Recognized Faculty members have contributed to the advancement of professional education in the digital signage, digital out-of-home and interactive technology industries through their presentations at DSE events.

For DSE educators to qualify as Distinguished Faculty and Recognized Faculty members, their presentations must meet the high standards set by DSE and its educational committees and the expectations of DSE attendees as evidenced by high marks on speaker evaluations for:

1. Presenter’s Knowledge, 2. Presenter’s Effectiveness and 3. Presentation Content.

DSE Distinguished Faculty members have presented at four or more DSE events and consistently earned scores of 3.5 or more on a 4-point scale on evaluations from attendees, or they have achieved scores of 3.7 or more at a minimum of two events (effective beginning DSE 2011).

DSE Recognized Faculty members have spoken at one or more DSE events and received an audience rating of 3.5 or more on a 4-point scale. (effective beginning DSE 2011).

DSE Distinguished & Recognized Faculty

DISTINQUISHED FACULTY

Alan Brawn, Principal, Brawn Consulting

Jonathan Brawn, Principal, Brawn Consulting

Lyle Bunn, Strategy Architect, BUNN

Laura Davis-Taylor, SVP, Managing Director BBDO Shopwork

Mike DiFranza, President & CEO, Otter Hill Advisors

Bill Gerba, CEO, WireSpring

Loren Goldfarb, COO, MediVista Media/Everwell

Steve Hargis, Director: Film & Video, Bass Pro Shops

Michael Hiatt, President, Dynamic Retailing

Linda Hofflander, Director, Vertical Marketing, Enterprise Business Division, Samsung Electronics America

Bryan Meszaros, Managing Partner, OpenEye

Stephen Randall, CEO, LocaModa

Kim Sarubbi, President & CEO, Saddle Ranch Digital

Rishi Shah, CEO & Founder, ContextMedia

Pat Stimpson, Digital Signage Manager/Global Brand Development, PlayNetwork

Adrian Weidmann, Managing Director, StoreStream Metrics

Anne White, Creative Executive + Strategic Consultant, HypeHouse Inc.

Mike White, President, Multi-Media Solutions Inc.

George Yunis, SVP, Marketing & Consumer Engagement Strategies, Allure Global Solutions Inc.

 

Emerging Technologies are Changing the Way People Behave

There’s no doubt that new and emerging technologies are changing the way people behave and the way they perceive and use public spaces. But are these changes for the better? How can experiences be designed to harness these exciting new technologies—but also inspire us to look up from our devices and reconnect with the physical world and each other?

SEGD‘s technology and innovation event—Xlab 2013: Experience + Interaction in Public Space—will explore these questions and more October 24, 2013, at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens.

SEGD, the multidisciplinary community of people who design and create visual communications in the built environment, launched Xlab in 2011 to explore and help define the connection between design, digital technology, and the built environment. Xlab 2013
focuses on the evolving nature of interaction in public spaces and how design and technology can be used to reconnect and re-engage us with the physical environment. Xlab 2013 participants will investigate:

Clive Roux, CEO of SEGD, says it is an exciting time to explore the connection between digital technology and the built environment.
“Remember when we were all wondering what we would do with the ability to connect to the Internet via our mobile phones? It was not that long ago, but now we can’t do without it. The built environment is just entering that stage of finding the applications that make the most sense for people. Xlab is our platform for exploring the cutting edge of this interaction between people and place.”

This year, the Museum of the Modern Image—which recently completed a stunning renovation designed by architect Thomas Leeser—provides an inspiring space to “pose new, provocative questions about how we can use technology in our work creating experiences,” says Leslie Wolke (Leslie Wolke Consulting), Xlab Founding Chair. Her 2013 Co-Chair is Bryan Meszaros of digital media consultancy OpenEye. For more information or to register, visit the SEGD website at www.segd.org.

Xlab 2013 is sponsored by Daktronics (Presenting Sponsor) and Electrosonic.

The Corcoran Group’s Touch-Screen Windows Allow for Maximize Neighborhood Impact

The phones and tablets that are near us for nearly every breath of the day are responsive to our touch and the baby in our minds. Nowadays, actual babies see an image on a printed page and think that, like an iPad, it should be interactive.

New York City-based brokerage The Corcoran Group is feeding the new mind. The firm, a member of Realogy’s giant brokerage wing, NRT LLC, turned sections of five of its storefronts in the Big Apple into tablet-like, interactive displays in late 2011.

“We wanted to put something in the window that resembled how brand positioning works,” said Matthew Shadbolt, Corcoran Group’s director of interactive product and marketing.

Users can walk up to the windows anytime day or night and use their hands and fingers to navigate the content displayed on them, a projection from inside the office of what is essentially a website onto a plastic film stuck on the inside of the glass.

The firm, which has 26 offices in New York City, The Hamptons on Long Island and South Florida, has plans to add the technology to other offices with the right layout, Shadbolt said. An office must have large, street-level windows to optimize the touchscreen windows’ interactive potential.

The technology currently graces the windows of three of Corcoran Group’s offices in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn. The content of the interactive displays is programmed and controlled from Corcoran Group’s Madison Avenue headquarters.

The displays allow the brokerage to showcase more properties in the touchscreen-equipped windows, and “show curated things to do around a listing,” Shadbolt said. The technology also saves on printing costs and allows the firm to intersperse brand messaging like new ad campaigns and other content around listings, he said.

For example, when the firm launched a TV spot associated with its “Live Who You Are” marketing campaign last year, it pushed the spot to all of the interactive window displays.

The firm pushes out updated content to the displays in real time from its social media accounts like Foursquare, info about open houses, and corporate messaging, Shadbolt said.

But the majority of the content on each office’s display is chosen by the office itself. The offices select what listings and other info they want in the display, and headquarters produces the browser-based feed that’s displayed on the window.

So far, Shadbolt said, the Corcoran Group is seeing the windows used mostly at night, from about 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., when the brilliant window display set off against the dark attracts users like moths to light.

Corcoran Group partnered with New York City-based tech firm OpenEye Displays LLC to make the touchscreen windows. There are two films on the inside of the glass, said Bryan Meszaros, founder and managing partner of OpenEye Displays.

One of the films on the glass, a vinyl-like material, catches light from a high-quality projector positioned seven to 10 feet behind the window inside the office. The other film, between the vinyl layer and the glass, has sensors that detect disruptions in light waves, registering touch through the glass.

For the technology to work, an office must have a layout large enough to provide a clear path for an image to be projected, Meszaros said. The glass has to be thin enough for the sensors to pick up activity on the other side. Cost is also a factor — a projector alone can cost $7,000.

So far, Corcoran Group is the only firm, brokerage or otherwise, that OpenEye Displays has implemented this technology with, Meszaros said.

SEGD NYC Chapter Event

New York members were treated to a guided tour at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Times Square on August 25, 2015. The tour was led by Bryan Meszaros from OpenEye Global and Eric Fluet from Madame Tussauds, who discussed the new digital experiences recently implemented by OpenEye Global. Following the tour guests were able to explore the museum on their own and also gather at a networking reception overlooking the 42nd Street theater district.

Digital Installation Brings Madame Tussauds NYC Experience To Life

A giant new digital installation in New York City will give the tens of millions of annual visitors to Times Square – ‘The Crossroads Of The World’ – a chance to see inside Madame Tussauds.

The attention-grabbing 13 ft. by 12 ft. LED screen, which was installed on 19 June, is visible from 42nd Street. It is already proving a big hit with visitors to Times Square, who get to benefit from a unique, behind-the-scenes look at the Madame Tussauds experience.

The project brief from Madame Tussauds (part of Merlin Entertainments Group) to Banner Managed Communication (BMC), its global marketing and communications agency, was to ‘increase the attraction’s cut-through and audience share within the intensively competitive New York tourist scene’. BMC deployed its digital experience design partner, OpenEye Global, a world leader in conceiving and delivering innovative visual technology projects, to help create the experience from the eyes of the visitor.

The Madame Tussauds and OpenEye teams developed a content strategy highlighting the brushes with fame (and infamy!) that could only happen inside Madame Tussauds. Using actors and a green screen to film reactions to their encounters with Madame Tussauds’ stars, crowds outside could get a real taste of the fun that awaits them inside.

In order to drive interactions beyond the ticket booth, another key tactic was to showcase the opportunity for ‘dynamic selfies’ inside Madame Tussauds.

Davey Barrett, Head of Product Development, Midway Attractions, North America at Merlin Entertainments plc said: “BMC and OpenEye have helped us find a truly innovative way of communicating and visualizing the experience of visiting Madame Tussauds to a vast, untapped audience. We’re undoubtedly achieving our primary objective of grabbing the attention of many more visitors to Times Square.”

Catherine Burke, CEO of Banner Managed Communication, said: “Creative thinking and leading-edge technology have combined here to inject new life and contemporary relevance into an attraction with a heritage stretching back almost 250 years. This project is a perfect example of why we’ve partnered with OpenEye. They provide precisely the blend of digital innovation and execution expertise which BMC clients are looking for.”

Bryan Meszaros, CEO & Founder of OpenEye commented: “It was clear to us that many people’s perception of Madame Tussauds lags way behind the modern-day reality. So our focus was on creating content and using technology to visualize and bring to life the Madame Tussauds experience, emphasizing what an incredibly dynamic and interactive attraction it is for visitors.”

OpenEye Celebrates the Holidays (again)

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The holidays are upon us again. But that can only mean one thing in OEG land.

Our CEO & Founder Bryan “The Big Cheese” Meszaros begins to spread holiday cheer by the only way he knows. By putting on his elf outfit and visiting all of the OEG family.

Is it unhealthy? Is he annoying? Is he just flat out creepy? You be the judge.

OEG Holiday Videos Through The Years

Even though our team is spread out, we always make it a point to celebrate the holidays together and have a little fun. Through the years we’ve made holiday videos to spread the holiday cheer with our clients, partners, family, and friends. Check out the videos below and tell us which one is your favorite!

2015

 

2014

 

2013

 

2012

Recap: IAAPA Orlando 2016

It’s true. I just spent the week at one of the largest carnivals in the country. Virtual Reality car racing. A bouncy area. Whack-a-mole. And even a modern-day carousel. Not to mention some of the “finest” carnival foods you will ever enjoy!

At times, it’s rough being the Big Cheese.

IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions), is a yearly convention and tradeshow in Orlando highlighting the best of theme parks and attractions around the world. This being my second year attending, here is what I’m seeing as “experience” trends moving into 2017 and beyond.

Single User Virtuality Reality Games It’s clear that the Amusement Park industry has taken notice of VR as I spotted numerous vendors displaying various “Themed Games” that were ready to be instantly deployed. Check Out  www.exo-film.com

Realistic Multi-User VR Games Realistic simulation starts with accurate data – procured directly from manufacturers, collected through 3D laser scanning, or by disassembling cars to weigh and measure parts of the chassis, suspension, and driveline. However, An accurate simulation is not just an assembly of data thanks to a high-tech physics engine and tire modeling system, this data is transformed into feeling when you’re behind the wheel.

It’s all about competition and for those thrill seekers looking to race around the track but in the comfort their homes, CXC Simulations had a unique game setup that provided the ability to multiple users to participate at once.www.cxcsimulations.com

A new twist on the Selfie  GeoSelfie offers The Word’s Largest Selfie Experience. They provide you with the unique opportunity to take a single photograph, which allows a zoom in-out from the close-up shot of the person to the entire surrounding landscape. With their system, the consumer’s smartphone becomes a camera shooter that drives the pre-installed remote cameras. The amazing results are immediately sent to the smartphone allowing the user to enjoy and share on social networks.

Immersive 360 Motion-Based Experience Think of the ultimate visual ride experience you can imagine! Complete with 16 channel audio playback. Essentially, it’s a stationary experience so you no longer need a big room to provide the thrill of a lifetime to a quest. Check out Oceaneering for more.

Ride Innovation We are all looking for the next big thrill and it’s interesting to see how the evolution of rides is progressing. Not just a thrill, but a great design to go along with it.

It’s all about theming “If disney can do it, so can we” seems to be the mentality of the industry. There were more theming companies on display this week to the likes of Theme Builders and The Weber Group, both of which designed some unique environments. There was also an emphasis on the design and authenticity of the world they wish for the quests to experience.

No longer is it about traditional queue lines or subtle fixtures. The future of the industry is about building amazing themed environments, developing rich characters, and telling stories that live with the guest.