Verizon Wireless opened its first Destination Store at the Mall of America. With over 7,000 square feet of technology, the vast space showcases the national wireless titan’s latest products and solutions. The store was brilliantly designed by Chute Gerdeman and integrated by McCann Systems.
Passersby become potential clients as a pixel tracking camera engages shoppers in an interactive experience. Virtual buttons appear on the storefront window when they pause for a glance into the store. The store window is transformed into an interactive interface by using a custom touch foil material. The experience is both visual and tactile, but is only the beginning of the immersive retail experience. Directly to the left of the entrance, visitors find the Wall of Sound, featuring 300 speakers from four different manufacturers. The speakers are controlled via bluetooth and can be played together or separately by manufacturer.
Throughout the store there are various lifestyle zones, each featuring a video wall along with multiple 32” touchscreens. The touchscreens prompt clients to explore, demonstrate, and interact with products, services, and applications to enrich their own wireless lifestyles.
The Have Fun Zone, geared toward gamers, incorporates an interactive racetrack where clients can pick up a phone or a device and use it to control a “Sphero Ball” on the track. When devices in this zone are picked up, an RFID will trigger an overhead HD camera giving them a birds-eye view of the racetrack as well as the device they are maneuvering.
The Get Fit Zone has a 3 x 3 video wall with a centered treadmill. Here customers can open an app on the treadmill to choose a virtual running environment. With the 32” touch screens, clients can explore other devices and applications related to fitness.
In the Home and On the Go Zone, you will find a 3 x 3 video wall showing a loop for the Smart Home Showcase while the touchscreens give you access to shopping and information on home monitoring and energy management products.
Midway through the store is a 7 foot by 26 foot Christie Digital MicroTile wall. Two Microsoft Kinect devices are set to designated areas on the floor, prompting the shopper to create a personal avatar and engage with the software through movement and dance. Directional speakers are mounted above the user to create a concentrated dispersion pattern. All of the creative content for the store was done by AKQA and Marcom.
The Device Wall consists of two separate areas, both with 2 x 7 screen configurations. Each column of screens has a touch foil overlay on the glass for interactive content which is triggered once a device is selected from the wall. The information is specific to the item held by the shopper; creating a guided interactive experience of exploration and learning.
Sound is a key component to the experience in the Destination Store. BSS was specified to handle the DSP for the wireless mics, the ambient sound, and the individual audio zones. Control of the audio system is accomplished using a Medialon system that recognizes spoken commands from a Verizon supplied audio app installed on various tablet devices. The Medialon system also handles the task of reducing power consumption by turning all 140 plus displays on and off each day.
