What is EXPOmatic

We developed the SAAS system commercialized as EXPOmatic. EXPOmatic gathers content from various online platforms based on location, target group, or specific event, and shows this on an interactive social screen. Visitors can get any content item from that screen directly on their own phone. See, scan and share!

EXPOmatic is the physical product: the screen in a public space like an office, an event or a museum.

My work

In a 2 persons team, I was solely responsible for the concept and the product design. I also did all marketing and sales, business strategy, purchasing, service and was a critical sounding board for the software architecture.

At first, it was just a social media “wall”: showing messages from a few social media platforms. By showing it as a “flow”, a slow stream of posts, it attracted attention without turning people off. It was not being too flashy, or too mundane like a video.

It was called Grapevine: Have you heard it? Through Grapevine!

Can I take it home?

From the first users and demonstrations I translated the feedback into a new feature: the Take-it-home system. What if you could get that specific youtube video on your phone? I came up with the NFC and QR connection: an active item on the screen gets a QR code and at the same time the NFC tag on the display can be scanned. The item will then be almost magically “transferred” to the visitors’ phone. Since Covid came, QR codes are part of daily routine, but at that time QR was a gimmick and NFC was only used in Asia. We used both to be compatible with Apple and Android.

Since we introduced that feature, we could sell and rent out the system as a product!

Well, it only seemed logical then to name this specific function "Harvest": finally you can take the fresh fruit home!

Grapevine|harvest

Green is good

To keep things easy and workable, the system was redone in HTML5 instead of Flash, where the first prototype was implemented in. And, it made it possible to use it on almost any hardware as long as it could run a browser and high enough performance.

For a client (worldwide dutch investors company Robeco) it was easy to use a hardware system in Singapore, using EXPOmatic by only shipping a URL! That saved a lot of money and was a lot better for the planet than swapping 80 kilos of hardware around the globe.

A lot of information is still spread by using paper. Of course this has its advantages, but by also enabling PDF as a source in our platform, clients can use the already available flyers and portfolios without printing it.

What’s even better, using Dropbox made it easy for clients to create a digital goodie bag. Put it in the Dropbox folder, let your visitor take the doc’s home!

History in the making

The more EXPOmatic was used, the more it turned out to be a versatile platform. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter were there first, but by popular demand Instagram and LinkedIn followed. But also, a quiz and polling module was designed by me, for a museum client.

For HCO (Historical Centre Overijssel) we made a connection to their vast visual database of historical images: ancient photos, documents, videos and stories.

This way, a local museum can make their own collection on an interactive screen to show their visitors. Visitors can take it on their phones, and even respond to it. Crowd sourcing made easy.

As I did consulting work on indoor navigation and signage, I thought it would be a good idea to integrate that into our platform.

Let the building guide you!

In this case LED cubes were used. On crucial points in a building they show the way with icons, like arrows and stairs.

A more intuitive approach can be the use of LED strips with a moving coloured light, to be followed by a visitor.

You can see the result at our office in Hengelo, welcome for coffee!