Interactive Systems | Introduction
Interactive solutions are not science fiction, but it is worth paying attention to some dependencies in the relationship between requirements, equipment and budget. How to do it? What are your options? What to look for? We will try to answer these questions.
Large-format multimedia installations are already common place in the world of events and exhibitions. Nobody feels particularly surprised by the Mapping 3D projection, which has become a widely used tool for displaying content in the last few years. Projectors are more and more often replaced with LED screens, because these simply work better in illuminated spaces, such as exhibition halls. More and more installations in more and more sophisticated forms, this is simply the norm.
Today’s market is looking for opportunities to communicate with customers and viewers through interactive solutions that directly engage in action. This is remembered better and, above all, finds more interest than a regular movie displayed on even the largest screen.
There are more, or less interesting solutions that offer many options and possibilities, almost unlimited. However, before you start looking for the best solution for your needs, it is important to first define the most critical points:
1. What do you want to show?
2. Who do you want to show it to?
3. What is your goal?
4. Where is it going to take place?
5. When is the implementation deadline?
6. How much budget do you want to spend on it?
These questions should apply not only to Interactive Systems, but to any other project we deal with. Specifying the above parameters allows you to prepare a project that will be optimized in terms of equipment, methods of delivery and costs.
What tools do you have?
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There are many possibilities and you can mention here, among others, touch screens, object recognition, optic sensors, infrared devices, various types of controllers, RFID, VR equipment, AR, XR, mobile applications and many others that require not only the support of specialists, but also dedicated programming and very often additional equipment, such as powerful media servers, video production equipment, projectors, LED screens or even specific constructions, lighting, sound systems or even robots and kinetic systems.
Of course, it should be remembered that high-quality hardware is recommended, but well-designed content and an intuitive interface that allows for free playability is critical. There is probably nothing worse than a poorly designed and unintuitive application that not only makes it difficult to use, but also freezes and, in addition, simply looks bad. This is a recipe for losing not only money, but also very often your image in the eyes of customers.
But does such an application have to be expensive to be good?
Whether expensive or cheap, this is a relative concept, but the optimal cost can certainly be achieved by precisely defining the above answers to the questions and proposing the best possible solution. It happens, and it is not uncommon, that simpler and cheaper solutions will give a much better end result than the expensive and complicated ones.
As a rule, it is worth simplifying things, or maybe a better word is — optimizing. At Fractal Systems, we know it perfectly well. If you choose a professional team for your project, you will definitely not regret the money invested.
However, if you look at it, you have to take into account that technical and system requirements mean that interactive solutions are generally not the cheapest possible options, because even the simplest application requires the work of graphic designers, programmers, technical service, and dedicated hardware.
If we are already talking about the money and profitability of projects, it should be noted that the most expensive elements of the project are always: content and application.
For short term projects like a one-day conference, these costs can be relatively high. But once created, an application or content can be duplicated and requires only rental or purchase of equipment, which in the case of medium and long-term projects significantly spreads the production cost.
Crafting is as exciting as delivering the end result, but demanding a contractor’s “creative idea” without a clear goal and project priorities usually end up with bids that do not meet the requirements and put you off with high costs.
Hope this short article helps you make good decisions.
Good luck!
