Page 36 - RLI September 2019

technology PRoFIle | ESPRIT DIGITAL

Experience, Knowledge, Since 2004, Esprit Digital has been entirely focused on deploying
the most durable systems all over the world, offering an unrivalled

Flexibility and 360° Reliability one-stop service to transform the most challenging mass transit and
high footfall retail sites into stunning digital screen environments.
Here, RLI sits down with CEO Peter Livesey to learn more.

WeStFIelD WhIte cIty WeStFIelD StRAtFoRD cIty
london, UK london, UK

FAneUIl hAll
Boston, US

WeStFIelD hARVey nIcholS DohA FeStIVAl cIty
national Rollout, US Doha, Qatar Doha, Qatar

he team at Esprit Digital design and build any kind working on more centres in the US, all the way back to the City of “Our key department is research and development and shows no sign of “We have bought a software house
of bespoke digital hardware for any environment Birmingham, where they are currently delivering hundreds of giant where we are constantly evaluating new technologies to slowing down.
anywhere in the world and then support it for life. single and double-sided 75” Roadside Totems for Ocean Outdoor. incorporate into our solutions and our digital furniture and “The other thing is that in Barcelona and are specialising
TThe company work with all types of visual display “Looking forward we want to work on more of the same, the people in this department are completely passionate and the hardware has come in the next generation wayfinding
technologies, primarily LED and LCD for major infrastructure but we have also launched a new division called Esprit Digital have been with us forever,” says Livesey. down significantly in price
owners including malls, metros, airports and retailers. Interactive (EDi) which is exciting and right at the cutting What this company can offer is a full-service operation and this has driven the which uses voice activation. So
They have evolved in the market of digital displays from edge,” explains Livesey. “We have bought a software house that can begin before a project has even commenced large-scale proliferation instead of having traditional maps,
making LEDs for roadside billboards in the early nineties for in Barcelona and are specialising in the next generation groundworks. They can visit a site and look at it from the of screens that we have
the forerunners of the current major advertising contractors wayfinding which uses voice activation. So instead of having outside and understand where screens need to be placed, in seen over the last few people can go up to a screen and
like Clear Channel and JCDecaux, to working on the London traditional maps, people can go up to a screen and talk to it the car park, in the buildings themselves and where best to years,” says Livesey. talk to it and ask it where to go”
Underground in the early 2000s which became their signature and ask it where to go.” place them to reflect passenger flows. Finally, what keeps
project after they invented the screens to go on the escalator The company also has a suite of gesture-based controls, “We believe that no project is too large or too small Livesey excited looking forward as the company moves
walls, to making Digital Totems and Kiosks for Westfield globally. which means people do not have to touch the screens, they for us, from huge screen deployments for Westfield and through its third decade of existence? “We would like to
“I would say the London Underground project was can instead simply point to it and move in and out with their Heathrow, to individual specials for Harvey Nichols and keep winning industry awards like the ‘Retail Project of the
probably the hardest we will ever have - after overcoming finger and move things around, a very useful tool in hot Burberry. We work excellently with others as a team and Year 2018’ at the AV Awards for the Westfield US Mall rollout
a multitude of technical and certification challenges we put climates when glass becomes very hot to the touch. have long standing partnerships with the biggest players in and the ‘Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade’.
nearly 2,000 screens on the walls back in 2005 and most are Esprit Digital set themselves apart in the market by digital,” explains Livesey “making sure that we are always Nobody has completed the variety of different projects
still there now, working 18 hours a day, seven days a week, 14 continuing to do everything in-house, they are all about available, that there is no time difference and that there is that we have, so that keeps it fresh for me - every time
years later, so we did something right!” explains Peter Livesey, reliability and seamless integration. They provide a 360° service always someone around whatever time, day or night.” a brief lands on my desk it presents new challenges, from
CEO of Esprit Digital. which begins with a blank piece of paper and expands into Speaking about the industry, Livesey explains that digital subways to the tops of buildings and from external screens
The last 12 months have seen Esprit Digital install the first ever prototyping, manufacture, installation and global support. They out of home, which is basically anything that isn’t TV, radio or in hurricane regions to deserts.”
ad screen network in a mall in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to bring experience, knowledge and flexibility to any given project. press, has been a real growth area for the last fifteen years www.espritdigital.com

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