Designing interactive advertisements for public displays

Although public displays are increasingly being deployed in everyday situations, they are still mostly used as auto-active information sources. Adding interactivity can help to attract and engage users. We report on the design and in-the-wild evaluation of an interactive advert for a public display in a tourist information center. We evaluate and compare 3 different variants - non-interactive, interaction using body tracking, and interaction using personal mobile devices - with respect to attracting the attention and interaction from passersby. We further compare these variants with an iterated version of the body tracking system with an extended tracking area. Our findings include an unexpected reluctance of passersby to use their mobile device in public, and the increased interactive area for body interaction resulting in increased engagement and spontaneous multi-user interaction, while removing the so-called 'landing effect'. Based on our findings, we suggest guidelines for interactive adverts on public displays.