Featured Project: BrightSign and Smart Digital Team Up on 9/11 Memorial Displays

The National 9/11 Memorial & Museum in lower Manhattan recently overhauled its digital signage, and it brought in Los Gatos, California-based BrightSign to supply the hardware, and New York City-based Smart Digital Solutions was chosen to provide systems integration and support.

According to the museum, BrightSign’s media players were integral to this initial deployment-the first in a series of digital media enhancements to enrich the visitor experience. All told, BrightSign’s media players now power a third of the museum’s digital signage, feeding informational and interactive content to approximately 30 displays located throughout all seven floors of the subterranean museum.

“We were impressed by the affordability of BrightSign’s 4K players, especially considering their robust feature set,” says Hal Scharfman, CTO of Smart Digital Solutions. “At this price point, we were able to achieve everything we wanted to do technically, but at a fraction of the cost of a comparable PC-based solution.”

BrightSign’s 4K players power a combination of Sharp and LG displays positioned at key entry points and high-traffic areas. The displays include single screens, video walls and interactive touchscreens.

At more than 100,000 square feet, the museum relies heavily on the displays to help visitors make the most of their time in the museum. The museum is open 365 days a year, for as many as 14 hours per day during peak tourist seasons, and welcomes as many as 20,000 visitors per day. Any downtime would cause significant inconvenience, and the museum says BrightSign players’ reputation for reliability was a key factor in the decision to choose them.

Content is produced primarily in-house, and managed remotely from the museum’s administrative offices via the BrightSign Network Enterprise Edition. The next phase of implementation will incorporate streaming video projected in 60 of the museum’s exhibits.

“The initial deployment of BrightSign’s players has been very successful-they’ve performed as expected with flawless operation and zero downtime,” says Steve Hey, director of technology infrastructure and security at the memorial. “BrightSign’s players will figure prominently in future deployments as we continue to update signage throughout the museum.”