• by Erik Sass , May 2, 2006

The cutting-edge interactive agency responsible for designing the futuristic computer interface in sci-fi thriller "Minority Report" is making its vision a reality, and it's a lot sooner than anyone might have expected. Working for global tech and corporate consulting giant Accenture, Los Angeles-based Schematic is putting a similar large-screen, touch-guided interface at the disposal of business travelers passing through Chicago's O'Hare, the country's busiest international airport.

These interfaces will serve as a branded promotion for Accenture, and are billed as the first of a network of wall-sized interactive screens for the nation's public spaces, with New York's JFK next on the list. Travelers will be able to use Accenture's wall-size digital displays to access information including stock quotes, news, lifestyle tips, and sports updates.

The medium will likely skew toward business travelers, said Dale Herigstad, executive creative director at Schematic. There are no log-ins, no passwords, and no bills, and unlike computer monitors, the sturdy walls are difficult to steal, damage, or deface.

Although the touch-screen walls are undoubtedly a form of personalized media, according to Herigstad they're a great deal more, as the user's choices create a program of video and text information that's visible to viewers standing further away--in effect, making the user a media director, if only temporarily. In an age where consumers want to combine personalization with easy distribution, Herigstad's interface unexpectedly brings both qualities to an old medium--outdoor.

That's no coincidence. Herigstad has formulated a model of traditional "distances" that have dominated American media for many years--but also aims to change that model radically. According to Herigstad, there are "public" or "outdoor" media (meant to be viewed from 20 feet or more, e.g. things like billboards), friends and family (10 feet, things like TV), personal (two feet, computers), and private (one foot or less, for personal devices like iPods).

Accenture's new displays at O'Hare blur the lines between at least the first three categories, allowing private users to create public media displays that are visible to strangers. One can also imagine friends or families clustering around the displays to find information on transportation, food, and lodging together.

"It's going in two directions," Herigstad explained: "Completely private, where you're doing your own thing, but public as well--publicly viewed television, for example. That means these screens have a totally different context and feel to them from earlier public media. Yes, there's an individual who is a participant, someone is an activator up close--but it's a much larger phenomenon involving a lot of viewers further away."

As the concept is quite new, Accenture and Schematic realized that they faced a considerable hurdle simply in getting travelers to pause a moment to try the interface. "So what we did was film these people on blue screen coming up and trying it out," Herigstad said. Dodging the need for tedious tutorials, the touch-guided displays use the simplest and most eye-catching guides of all: life-sized virtual human beings a few feet away on the concourse.