uma unveils new semantic shopping display solutions at Retail Technology Expo

Industry’s First Semantic Display, uma SKIN™, Powered by 2nd Generation Intel® Core® i7 Platform and MultiTaction Cell LCD displays from MultiTouch Ltd., Featured at London Expo

LONDON - uma, the leading innovator in semantic web technology, today announced the introduction of the first semantic retail shopping display system, which enables content to follow and respond to shoppers from a massive multitouch display wall. The new system is the second-generation version of the uma SKIN™ (Semantic Knowledge Information Network) semantic display product, which incorporates a 2.2 meter wall of stackable MultiTaction® Cell 55” interactive displays that deliver updated product information and experiences to retail shoppers. The uma SKIN system will be demonstrated today and tomorrow, March 13-14, at the Retail Technology Business Expo in London, at Earl’s Court Conference Center in the Intel Booth #440.

The latest features of uma SKIN enable retailers to connect their product databases directly via standardized connectors. The uma SKIN system offers a feature-rich presentation of retailers’ products offering automatic 2D and 3D interactive visualizations and playful ways to compare products. Personalization options are also extended to allow barcode identification and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tracking. uma SKIN can be arranged from 42-inch, 46-inch, and 55-inch multitouch displays from MultiTouch Ltd., and consist of either single-unit installations up to more than 18-unit installations.

The uma SKIN system also integrates the Intel® Audience Impression Metrics Suite (Intel® AIM Suite), which will enable retailers to better understand characteristics of the wall’s users, including gender, age, interests, impressions, and other demographics.

For the retailer, uma SKIN creates a platform for managing a wealth of content in one store, or many stores, through a central management system. The system leverages existing content assets to bring them fully into context for the customer, in both a vivid and playful manner. This enables retailers to maximize production costs, and more cleverly and efficiently place content contextually in front of retail audiences.

uma has made in-roads into the retail sector with the uma SKIN system in the past year, having signed an agreement with SportScheck, the leading German sports retailer from OTTO Group. Bally Shoes also featured uma SKIN as part of its recently-introduced “World of Bally” interactive shopping and design experience, at the Milan Men’s Fashion Week event in January.

“The ability to have content follow shoppers as they experience a retail environment, and have information tailored to who they are, creates a new dialogue for the retailer and the shopper, and the uma SKIN system is designed to drive the shopping engagement to new levels of interactive communication,” said Christian Doegl, founder and CEO of uma information technology. “We are seeing greater interest in our semantic display system as retailers understand their customers, and their own data, and how these two dynamics can be integrated for a more harmonious shopping experience.”

“The retailers of the future require more and more advanced tools to stay ahead of the competition,” said Hannu Anttila, Vice President, Sales of MultiTouch Ltd. “uma and Intel are showing how our interactive displays can be at the center of truly revolutionary shopping experiences.”

The uma SKIN product integrates large-scale MultiTaction Cell LCD displays from MultiTouch Ltd., with the uma semantic web content curation engine, for information delivery. It can be used in corporate or public communication, retail, exhibition and museum scenarios. uma SKIN enables personalized content that tracks users with RFID and NFC technology and detects motion using 3D sensor cameras, enabling passive interaction with visitors. The semantic content curator engine is able to retrieve and contextualize content from various repositories or the web, including web 2.0 sources. uma SKIN’s semantic content curation engine minimizes the effort for content production, editing and curating.  Like an organism’s skin, the uma SKIN product provides a display that can be touched and manipulated to generate responses in the form of information.

MultiTaction builds on MultiTouch’s patented optical imaging technology Computer Vision Through Screen for multitouch displays, and provides the world’s most advanced set of touch, gesture and object recognition capabilities. The MultiTaction Cell 55” is a Full HD display which can accommodate unlimited number of touch points and an unlimited number of concurrent users with full hand recognition.

About uma© - separating the signal from the noise

Since its founding in 1994, uma has been the innovation leader in new forms of knowledge mediation and spatial user experiences. uma provides end-to-end services for its customers, helping with creative planning as well as the implementation and integration of its semantic service platform Melvil©. With its uma SKIN™ technology, uma developed the industry’s first product for semantic display, enabling a wide range of content producers – including corporations, retailers, and brands - to deliver smart content to users on massive, multitouch displays and emerging devices.

uma clients include the OTTO Group, Siemens, Intel, IBM, Deutsche Telekom AG, Toy Industry Association, Red Bull, Bally or L’Oréal. uma is headquartered in Vienna, Austria with offices in Munich, Berlin, New York City and Santa Cruz, California. For more information, please visit www.uma.at.

About MultiTouch Ltd.

MultiTouch is a leading developer of interactive display systems, based on proprietary software and hardware designs. The company is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, with offices in Santa Clara, California, New York City and Singapore. Its systems are currently in use in more than 40 countries around the globe. For more information, please visit www.multitouch.fi.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: If you would like a color photograph of Christian Doegl, founder and CEO of uma; installation photos of the uma SKIN product, or uma SKIN product shots, please contact Chris Pfaff on +1-201-218-0262 or chris@chrispfafftechmedia.com