Digital Falls: AR Art with a view to promoting sales

How Augmented Reality turned the atrium of Selfridges into an experience world visualising the future of shopping.

In September shoppers at London’s department store Selfridges were able to see the digital artwork Digital Falls by media artist Jon Emmony, which spanned five storeys of the store’s staircase. With the help of an App it was possible to immerse oneself in a fantasy world with underwater creatures and to discover electrifying, digital sculptures. By the artist’s account, the sea sculptures with their bioluminescent creatures and electrifying signals symbolise communication and the ideas that surround us every day. The artwork invites beholders to explore and takes them on a physical tour of the various floors of the department store.

Digital Falls is part of a campaign with digital works by various artists who were invited to reflect on and re-define today’s retail processes in their works. In these new online and offline worlds experience and sales merge seamlessly. Digital experiences are transferred to physical elements such as the shop windows and rooms with the merchandise they contain.

Jon Emmony is convinced that technologies such as Augmented Reality give rise to completely new experiences and believes that physical and digital spaces will increasingly develop into immersive places. And this will then also benefit retailers because shoppers who are on a discovery tour in the store will definitely also find products they like and end up buying.

Brands and retail are also focal themes at viscom and PSI. On the Superstar display area in Hall 13, Stand B29 and D49-D50 you can see the current highlights in POS communication. On the evening of 8 January 2020 the Superstar Awards will be presented as part of the Night of Stars to the exhibited merchandise-bearing and inherent display. The award winners will then be presented to you on 9 January 2020 at the corresponding area in Hall 13 at viscom.

On 8 January 2020 brands will also be centrestage at the Packaging Lunch, in the side events on the viscom stage of Forum 13 and at the PSI Members Only Lounge.

This day will focus on the “Sustainability in Brand Communication” theme. Here packaging and display experts, designers, agencies, producers and clients will meet for keynotes at Forum 13, Hall 13, Stand D13 between 11.30 am and 1.00 p. At the Packaging Business-Lunch from 1.00 pm to 3.30 pm to be held in the PSI Members Only Lounge, Hall 9, Stand G20, they will meet and exchange ideas on the topic with colleagues and customers.

The grand finale on the stage of the PSI Members Only Lounge Forum has two exciting talks in store for you:

2.30 to 3.00 pm: “Sustainability not only plays a role for products but also for their packaging. A talk about a holistic approach and the role of packaging as added value for product.”
Uwe Melichar, Packaging Partner at Factor Design, Hamburg and President of epda – European Brand & Packaging Design Association

3.00 pm to 3.30 pm: “Be in a better position! How sustainability can strengthen the market position. A Best Practice Case with “how-to” instructions for your own business.”
Ingo Moeller, Brand Consultant, Brand Coach, Munich

Please Note! Seats at the Packaging Lunch are limited. You are kindly requested to register by e-mail to packaging.vip@viscom-messe.com by no later than 20 December 2019. Thank you very much.

Aufmacher Bild: Selfridges