Until not so very long ago, digital signage was used sparingly. Dynamic displays that flip through various images were reserved for big, fancy companies with lots of resources to throw at what is essentially a moving poster. Cost was a massive factor here, but now the technology is small and affordable enough for pretty much anyone who wants it: fast food outlets all showcase their wares by flipping through pictures with giant prices, and I no longer have to squint at a long list up above head height to decide whether I want to go large. Ten-year-old me thought this shit was only possible in The Jetsons.
Perfect to drive displays
Speaking of affordable, small computers, it made perfect sense when we started seeing Raspberry Pis popping up inside checkout screens at supermarkets, and in dynamic directional signage directing customers around large Swedish furniture shops. Athens-based company Yodeck jumped on the trend at just the right time a decade ago, before the scene exploded, and built their offering around our hardware. Now their Raspberry Pi-powered digital signage is in 135 countries all over the world.
Raspberry Pi-powered signage from Yodeck
Yodeck specialises in an easy-to-manage setup that shows content sent to clients’ displays from a user-friendly content management system. A Raspberry Pi 4 sits neatly with the screen in the nice case you see above, and runs a Python application that looks after everything at the display end of things. Yodeck’s Raspberry Pi-powered solution allows content playback, scheduling, and device management to be handled remotely, as well as supported remotely by their team in case of any hiccups. This means companies with multiple screens in multiple locations can make sure customers see consistent information wherever they are. So if a fast food franchise owner wants to cut the price of an item on their menu, they can do this just once, and the change will be happen across all their restaurant menu screens immediately. Half-price margheritas for all!
We really like what Yodeck is doing with our tiny computers, so we’ve published a customer story all about how the company started, what industry challenge they were looking to solve, and how Raspberry Pi proved to be their perfect match. Give it a read.
