outdoor advertisingadvertising platformadvertising video playerartificial intelligence and iot
AD24 How we created an innovative outdoor advertising platform for AD24
The Czech technology startup AD24 addressed us to help bring to life an idea that has the potential to change the way outdoor advertising works. Advertisers will choose ad panels by location and number of passers-by and simply upload an ad video.
Innovation in advertising: the client wants to connect advertising screens with IoT
Outdoor advertising needs change. We were addressed with this intention by the technological startup AD24.
Compared to online, outdoor advertising has lagged behind since
- its effectiveness could not be measured;
- it couldn't be targeted correctly;
- people ignored it; and
- it marred the looks of towns.
The client wanted to change all this using a network of smart screens that would display an advertisement tailored to the given location.
„We see digital screens in public as an ideal means of communicating with people away from home. However, we do not see digital advertising as a static poster. The screen provides a virtual space that has many uses and should fit properly into public space.“
Radek Šalomon,
CEO AD24
About AD24
AD24 is a Czech technology company focusing on innovative outdoor advertising in the context of Smart Cities.
The company has created an advertising platform for small and large advertisers, which connects them directly with screen owners in the premises or in public space. In addition, smart technologies measure the performance of this advertising, blurring the distinction between Digital Out of Home advertising and that of the Internet.
Smart screens are placed at newsstands, fitness centers, bus stops, waiting rooms, post
offices, shopping malls,…
4 steps for advertising with AD24
In the online application, placing an advertisement in the AD24 advertising platform is quick and easy.
1
You register in the online application,
2
upload a video ad,
3
set deadlines, play frequency and time of day,
4
choose specific screens. And that's it.
Technology partner for fulfilling a clear vision
The client had a pretty good idea of how to connect advertisers and advertising screen owners through a network of innovative outdoor advertising. They were therefore looking for experienced programmers to help with the development of:
- web applications for management and sales of advertisements
- and on-screen video ad playing software.
We were recommended to the client from a friendly company and impressed them by our experience in single-board devices (Raspberry PI) and playing video, which we obtained in developing Obbod TV Internet television.
Thanks to artificial intelligence and IoT, you will find out how many and what people pass by the screen
We went right to work to create an advertising platform that will allow placement of a digital ad on any ad panel from one place in the AD24 network.
It was necessary to ensure that the system allowed:
- video upload;
- selection of the exact time and number of advertising repetitions;
- display of the details of each screen such as GPS location, area type and portrait or landscape screen orientation ; and
- display of data on how many people of what gender and age group walk past it (this was achieved using artificial intelligence for image recognition).
We then divided the work into three parts::
- portal front-end;
- portal back-end; and
- ADbox control - the terminal device connected to each panel.
„The advantage of the entire advertising platform is that it does not profile those who look at the screen in any way. It can recognize age and gender, but it does not store the camera record or pictures from it anywhere. It uses only data interpretation and it does not leave the ADbox either. It thus fully complies with the GDPR and our inner feeling that we ourselves place great emphasis on protecting our privacy.“
Radek Šalomon,
CEO AD24
We managed to transfer a high volume of data
We started with an analysis, a workshop with a client and a search for HW and SW technologies in the given segment. We created a feasibility study, where we identified (primarily open-source) video advertising services and prepared wireframes - thanks to which the client saw its vision for the first time.
At the beginning, we also defined technical risks and then suggested possible solutions to overcome them. This mainly concerned:
- eliminating disturbing flicker between individual spots (this was the biggest challenge, most other services do not resolve this problem);
- fluency and stability of streaming in different video formats under different conditions;
- large data volume transfer;,
- credit payment system design;
- reducing the need for service technicians;,
- campaign planning for individual advertising panels; and
- user content queue architecture.
Technologies used
What the advertising portal stands on:
- The application back-end is written in the Python programming language;
- using the proven Django web framework;
- we used PostgreSQL for databases;
- front-end is powered by Angular framework by Google;
- communication between the front-end and the back-end is provided by the GraphQL API;
- we used AWS Elastic Transcoder to work with video generation (it transfers the video ad into a unified format)
- OMXPlayer takes care of playing videos on advertising screens (it plays videos in high-definition using a graphics chip with almost zero CPU load).
You can find out more about the tools and technologies we use at COex on the web technologies page.
Little gem worthy of attention
The combination of AD24 hardware and our software in the form of an online web interface enables remote administration of all devices, efficient distribution of digital ads and data evaluation.
In addition, we needed to address in advance the fact that a call-out of a technician to the other end of the country would be too expensive. We based this on AD24's experience with monitoring the terminal equipment HW. The device features "self-monitoring":
- If a problem occurs, the device will restart the scheduled content as quickly as possible (even offline);
- if it shuts down unexpectedly, it restarts itself;
- every ad panel throughout the Czech Republic is equipped with this self-monitoring.
4 biggest advantages of the project
1. Relevant content for the given location and time that has greater potential to attract attention (e.g. invitations to exhibitions in the town, special offers of restaurants, enrolling children in playgroups, etc.).
2. Anonymous passerby recognition for target group identification thanks to AI and IoT operating on Raspberry Pi.
3. The device repairs itself (self-monitoring).
4. Smooth playback and no distracting flickering between commercials
„We liked the idea from the first meeting. It was an interesting challenge for us, which we think has the potential to change the form of advertising in public spaces. At COex, we enjoy such innovative projects immensely.“
Josef Vavřina,
Project manager COex
„The collaboration began with an analysis that determined the framework for the next steps. Both parties knew which way the project should go and what they could expect. The development team responded flexibly and quickly to any changes. That assured us that we would choose COex again for our next projects.“
