The annual Digital Signage Expo (DSE) is the world’s biggest and longest-running showcase of innovative digital communications and interactive tech.

We bring you 5 key highlights from the #DSE2017 gathering in the stunning Las Vegas Convention Centre.

The industry can speak with one voice

One major headline to emerge from DSE2017 was the announcement that a global digital out-of-home council has been established with a mission statement to support “the intersection between out-of-home advertising and the digital signage industry.”

The establishment of a global digital out-of-home council will surely only benefit innovations and standards in a crowded international market.

As the world of digital out-of-home (DOOH) continues to enjoy growth, and becomes increasingly interconnected, it’s excellent news that the industry now has the potential to speak with one voice.

The industry is at a creative high

With arcade machine-style booths projecting floating interactive holograms, and snooker tables tracking the movement of balls, the DSE was both a show of advances in interactive digital tech, and a display of the creative energy the industry is capable of.

Interactive signage tech is on the up and up

Although the aforementioned items may not have an obvious ROI use right now, there were certainly more, let’s say… practical, interactive tech innovations like the Pilkington MirrorView. This clever touch screen mirror can be used to map digital images of fashion items onto the user’s reflection without the need for lengthy visits to the changing rooms. Pretty neat.

Retail signage is getting a digital boost

We’re also pretty excited about a transparent store front digital poster from ADTI media. This is a great innovation that lets retail outlets display marketing messages on their store fronts whilst enabling consumers to engage in some good old-fashioned window shopping.

Also on offer from the ADTI booth was a new fan-less SKYWIND LED sign, with a lighter, aerodynamic, sign that uses wind flow as a coolant, reducing wind resistance by 33%.

For fast food retailers, Armagard presented an impressive drive-thru menu system with an interactive, 49″ display, that can be networked via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable, and pushes out an impressive maximum brightness of 3000 nits. Armagard claims the unit, which works straight out of the box and is weather and impact resistant, can drive a potential 8% increase in fast food sales.

APEX Award Winners highlighted the bright future of digital signage

Every year at DSE the APEX Installation of the Year winners are announced. This year’s top honours went to Razorfish for their T-Mobile Times Square store, an immersive digital experience with dazzling features like a 13-foot multi-touch wall from which shoppers can beam selfies to the huge storefront display screens that look out across Times Square.

Follow the #DSE2017 tag on Twitter for more on this year’s expo and find out about next year’s Digital Signage Expo on the DSE website.