Digital Signage – Screenfood Information Systems
If you’ve recently visited the ETH main building (HG) you’ve surely noticed that the massive display cabinets on each floor, which have longed served as an important communication medium for departments, institutes and chairs, are being dismantled.
In recent years, enthusiasm for maintenance has waned. Thus, visitors are still being regaled with campus news from 2010. A sure sign that the time for change has come. New information tools, currently known as „Digital Signage“ are much more suitable for the modern campus of today.
Screen Food
For some time now, Multimedia Services (ITS MMS) has been running a pilot service under the name of „Screen Food“. Info screens are fed different kinds of information which can be editorially designed. Large (40 „-70“) screens with built-in Windows7 computers are being implemented for this project. Computers are outfitted with Player software that is fed information from a server (screenfood.ethz.ch).
ITS MMS manages the infrastructure (server, client, monitor) while the customer feeds their own content into „their“ information screen. Templates are available so that photo slide shows, videos (without sound), texts and relevant excerpts from the course catalog and calendar of events can be combined as desired. This makes for an easy and convenient way to announce current events or visually present new research discoveries and other exciting highlights. Currently some 25 productive info screens are installed based on this service. Although the service is provided by MMS, other ITS divisions are also actively involved. ITS System Services (SD) provides the necessary virtual servers, the Barramundi Deployment System is from ITS User Services (BD) and ITS Service Delivery (SDL) provides comprehensive IT support.
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