People have been conducting experiments with automated vehicles since at least the 1920s, beginning trials in as early as the 1950s. Autonomous prototype cars appeared in the 1980s.
The automated vehicle research continued up into the present, ushering an era of driverless cars. In addition to offering opportunities in different industries like transportation, science and more, such technology opens immense possibilities to the advertising and retail businesses, providing location-based ads without risking driver safety.
PerceptIn’s DragonFly Advertising Solution
One such product comes to us from PerceptIn, a full-stack visual intelligence company which focuses on providing visual perception solutions ranging from IoT-grade robots to low-speed autonomous driving. They have invented the DragonFly vehicle line, a range of products meant to bring robotics on wheels to anyone who might need it.
One of their vehicles is the DragonFly Intelligent Advertising Vehicle. It has multiple uses in the advertising and retail industry. In the retail scenario, the vehicle can become a mobile self-pickup station, coffee vendor, mobile vending machine… Basically, anything that can fit, the DragonFly will deliver. As for the advertising scenario itself, what you get is billboards on wheels, with the exception of more attention received in comparison to the traditional billboards.
Offering a chance to maximize their business opportunities, the vehicle gives companies digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising options. The vehicle has location-based services (LBS), giving advertisers information about customers based on their location data and time of day.
DragonFly’s ROI Potential
The DragonFly demonstrated its impressive ROI potential during a 15-minute test run in a commercial complex. Specifically, the vehicle attracted over 1000 viewers. Of these 1000 viewers, 58.2% of them were highly engaged. This means they viewed the ad for over five seconds.
The founder and chairman of PerceptIn, Shaoshan Liu, said their mission was bringing intelligence to an area of advertising and retail which had none.
“Our Intelligent Advertising Vehicle technology offers the next pioneers of commerce the ability to connect the digital to the offline world easily and set up their own visually engaging ‘autonomous showroom’ quickly and affordably,” Liu added.
The DragonFly Vehicle will be available to select companies in the United States in Q4 2019.
YouTube: PerceptIn Intelligent Advertising + Vending Vehicle
Photo credit: The used images are owned by PerceptIn.
Source: PerceptIn press release and website
