Interactive Wall Replaces Old Flight Path Map At Vancouver’s Int’l Airport

March 13, 2018 by Dave Haynes

This is a new fine pitch LED display, married with interactive tech, sitting in a passenger area in Vancouver (Canada’s) International Airport.

The set-up developed by Montreal’s Float4 uses a Kinect sensor to pickup movement and trigger content pieces on a 12.5-foot wide by 7.8-foot high 1.67mm NanoLumens display.

Says a press release:

Where a printed map of select flight paths from YVR used to hang, there now sits a vibrant 12.5’x 7.8’ NanoLumens LED display playing custom content created by the renowned digital experience artists at Montreal-based Float4

“Digital is a key way we evolve the airport, making it more perceptive for passengers and customers by creating interactive environments,” says Lynette DuJohn, Vice President, IT & Chief Digital Officer at the airport. “We’ve partnered with NanoLumens on a number of projects both in our public areas and our Customs Hall that provide wayfinding, information in sign language, flight information – and now with our latest project in partnership with Float4, we have this new incredible interactive airport experience. Passengers and employees are loving the new installation, we are seeing a lot of smiles on people’s faces and that’s the ultimate goal – to provide exceptional experiences for passengers and the community.”

The display wall’s launch has two feature content pieces developed by Float4: The Reveal, which presents destination videos and changes when people pass by; and another that features four different backgrounds from Vancouver that have actions occur when people walk by.

The wall replaces a static flight path map that had hung for years in the area.

I suspect this is one of those cases where a video is needed to really  tell the story. As presented in the PR, it’s mostly a big shrug for me. The content triggered by sensors thing has been done for a decade, and the photos don’t look all that interesting. Maybe it’s amazing, and I just need to see it. Float4 does nice work (as does seemingly every content piece coming out of Montreal).

I’d also worry about the lifespan of some of the LEDs on that display, which appear to be nicely within reach of bored people in lineups, pulling roller luggage with hard plastic handles. LED walls, as they’re currently made, are easily damaged because the little packaged LED chips are brittle and vulnerable to getting knocked off or damaged in some other way.

  1. That’s a great initiative by the airport authority to serve people in a new way. Going digital will make it easier for airport authority to guide their customers

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