*Title:

ADROID – Solar Powered Wall Based

Advertising

Group Members
Asfand Yar, Danish Qureshi, Mian Ali Humayun

Research submitted to Sir Fahad Shinwari

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 1

 Abstract:
The purpose of the following paper is to help develop an idea we have dubbed 'ADROID' which
basically constitutes of a wall based digitally processing light projection device that can be
attached rigidly to a pole adjacent to a wall which will be powered by a solar panel and would
then seamlessly beam a desired advertisement along the lines of a boundary wall spread
throughout streets of various cities of Pakistan. This wall projecting device is intended to
generate a highly intensified fixed image in the day time while, also conserving energy that may
be stored and utilized later for a visually dynamic commercial montage to be projected in the
night time. The purpose of the device would be to visualize the stats and aspects of a product
to be advertised in the graphical form of a projection beamed on the very surface of a targeted
wall through the use of specified apparatus. Hence, the main ideological preference behind the
conception of ADROID is to ensure global class representation of quality advertising in Pakistan
through means of an array of high-tech minimalistic equipment tending to depict a modified
illustration of modern day advertisements and ensuring immense progression in the advertising
sector of the country. In such regard, it also symbolizes the arrival of a modern trend in Pakistan
which will not only help introduce a new method of advertising but will also contribute to
materializing a more brilliantly embellished aesthetical night-life outlook in various cities
throughout the country.

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 2

 Introduction
In a constantly evolving age of digitalization and technology, the field of advertising has seen
much progress and has skyrocketed to newer levels of creativity and ingenuity. Unique
advertising mechanisms have been integrated through means of a wide variety of conventional
and unconventional concepts. Ranging from static illustrations published in the print media to
being displayed on billboards, from visually expressive messages showcased in kinetic images
broadcasted on television sets to the repetitive static or in motion adverts integrated within the
new media. However, the definitions of a more creative, expressive and innovative advertising
transcend beyond all these conventional phenomena with the coming of diverse yet highly
advanced array of state of the art mechanisms and the increasing mobility in day to day
activities. In such a scenario, wall based projection advertising in Pakistan would although be a
rather unconventional concept yet it could stand as the next revolutionary step to be
submerged within the current era, equivalently beneficial to both the advertiser and the
consumer.

There are numerous boundary walls within each and every city of Pakistan alongside
pavements or roadsides spread throughout every street of a specific locality which presently
give off a very bland, unacceptable impression to the passer-by due to the obnoxiously
extensive wall chalking being as the wall itself serves no meaning other than being a barricade
to the other side. The concept behind ADROID, a wall embellishing projective advertising
mechanism constitutes a minimalistic pole mounted digital light processing projection device
clamped with an extending arm connected to a pole which is attached to the backside of a wall
and beamed at it, seamlessly illuminating it with constantly changing dynamic to static images
respectively in a night to day cycle along the lines of the wall itself. In this way, the wall will
then serve a purpose of a well adorned boundary wall which will showcase a visually expressive
montage while attractively advertising it. Such an advertising concept is likely to give an ever-
lasting pleasant impression to the mind of the observer and hence, incline the observer to
eventually become a consumer.

Several systems for projecting advertising images onto a display surface, including for outdoor
advertising such as billboards, have been previously described. For example, U.S. Pat. No.
5,570,138, describes a projected advertising system having a retractable projection screen
which is implemented onto a standard fixed billboard. The fixed billboard image is displayed
during the daytime. During the nighttime, the projection screen is automatically unrolled in
front of the fixed billboard image and a projector placed in front of the screen is used to project
advertising images onto the screen. Similar systems utilizing display screens and projectors are
described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,198,066; 3,020,798; and 2,491,184.

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 3

There are many advantages of a projection advertising display over a fixed image advertising
display. For one, the image can be more easily changed by simply changing the projected image
rather than having to physically replace the conventional static advertisement adhered to the
advertising surface (such as a billboard, poster, painting, etc.). In addition, moving video images
can be displayed, whereas a fixed image display can at best display one of several images (for
example by rotating panels, or reeling a screen). Among other advantages, little or no pollution
can be seen as it incorporates an advertising concept through digital and technological means
in comparison traditional means of advertising which when scrapped after a period of time,
turns out to be wasted material. Furthermore, the ADROID system would also be quicker and
easier to set up, cheaper to manufacture and use as compared to printing multiple copies of the
same advertisement through conventional means.

Video advertising has been implemented on video displays such as LED screens, LCD screens
and plasma TV screens, but such screen technology is very expensive and the screen sizes are
generally limited to being much smaller than typical outdoor billboards. A digital projection
advertising image has several advantages over the aforementioned systems.

The wall embellishment oriented advertising concept of the ADROID in such regard brings with
it a whole new perspective to be seamlessly and credibly be integrated to the catalytic horizon
that the new age holds. Consequently, the conventional, overwhelming and labor oriented
mechanisms of advertising commonly seen in the major cities of Pakistan such as Billboard,
Neon-signs etc. will be replaced with a more cost effective, sophiscated and alluring wall based
projection advertising.

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 4

 Operational Methodology of the ADROID

The apparatus that would be involved in the materialization of the concept of ADROID will
comprise of an insulated housing which will be clamped to an extending arm attached to a pole,
supporting a solar panel at the top where it will remain safe and secure and serve as the main
energy source. The insulated housing will enclose a digital light processing projection device
which will fully illuminate the projection surface i.e a white plastered smooth boundary wall for
the projection to be displayed upon. The digital projection unit will produce a moderately clear
beam illuminating the surface with a dynamic image or video in the nightly hours and will then
switch to a highly intensified beam for a fixed image in the morning hours and vice versa, a self-
controlled analog timer will trigger the projection mechanism to perform its corresponding
function when required to shift from a highly intensified to normal beaming power between
day to night cycles. A general layout of the ADROID system can be seen in Figure No.3. The solar
panel will also provide power concurrently to three other wall projection outlets.

The digital video projection device may be any suitable video projector for projecting still or
video images, but it is preferred to have a configurable high power-to-power saving video
projector capable of projecting high resolution images having a resolution of at least 1024×768
pixels, and still more preferably capable of projecting images of reasonable viewing brightness
and clarity as the size of a typical billboard, for example, approx. 12 - 14 by 6 -7 feet. The video
projection unit would also be capable of possessing an inter-changeable memory card or chip
where the commercial or advert will be stored or fed while also leaving a possibility for the
advertised projection to be changed later when required to by other advertisers.

Once a projection surface or projection site has been identified, agreements must be
negotiated to utilize the projection site. It is desirable to obtain long-term leases for use of the
projection surface or the projection site so that the advertising space can be sold for specified
periods, such as 6 months or 12 months or 1 year or longer. Compensation for the use of the
projection advertising display site can be structured as a flat fee. However permissions for long
or short-term use of advertising on the specific projection site may or may not be required from
the local government or the concerned authority.

Such long-term agreements for the space and the advertising provide many advantages. For
example, the display of advertising over a period of time allows the ability to estimate
impressions and effectiveness of the advertising over a period of time rather than the short
viewing periods afforded by illegitimate or special event projected advertisements. It also
facilitates marketing of the advertising space because a particular location which has certain
geographic qualities may make the projection advertising display site more or less attractive to
certain advertisers. In other words, the projection advertising display site can be targeted to

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 5

certain advertisers because the site has been locked up with long-term agreements. The
projection advertising display system can also be installed securely and permanently. Below is a
flow-chart showing the various necessary steps to be taken in order to set-up the ADROID

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 6

system:

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 7

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 8
Figure No.1 shows the front side of three sections of a wall where each section will have its own
pole mounted projection units or ADROID projection outlets while a central section which will
act as the main energy source for the other two adjacent outlets, provided through means of a
solar panel attached to the pole. The dotted line represents the projection rays covering the
projection surface with a proposed advertisement.

Figure No.2 shows the backside of the three sections of a wall where each section will have its
own pole attached to the rear end while the central section will be connected to a stronger and
longer pole to additionally bear weight of the solar panel and keep it a height. The other two
adjacent sections will be connected to a shorter pole supporting the projection unit.

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Figure No.3 details the design layout of the mechanism employed within the ADROID wall
based projection system.

Literature Review

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 10

“Projection Mapping uses everyday video projectors, but instead of projecting on a flat screen
(e.g. to display a PowerPoint), light is mapped onto any surface, turning common objects of any
3D shape into interactive displays. More formally, projection mapping is “the display of an
image on an arbitrarily complex surface”. As discussed in our Illustrated History of Projection
Mapping, projection mapping has many alternate names including the original academic term
“spatial augmented reality” and “video mapping.” Projection mapping can be used for
advertising, live concerts, theater, gaming, computing, decoration and anything else you can
think of. Specialized software or just some elbow grease can be used to align the virtual content
and the physical objects. For more information see our Software sections. Projection mapping
can be used on buildings to advertise, entertain or inform. Projection mapping can be used to
create immersive experiences for theater, television or in the home. Projection mapping can
bring everyday objects to life. Projection mapping can be used on 2D objects like paintings.”
(Brett Jones)

The following is the chronological history and development in the field of projection mapping or
wall based projection.

1980: The next projection mapping instance comes in 1980, with the immersive film installation
Displacements by Michael Naimark. In this art installation living rooms with two performers
were filmed with a rotating camera, and then the camera was replaced with a projector. The
result is rotating projection mapping.

1990: Disney not only pioneered the technology of projection mapping, they also have the
earliest patent (that I can find) in the space. Entitled “Apparatus and method for projection
upon a three-dimensional object“. It essentially describes a system for digitally painting an
image onto “a contoured, three-dimensional object.

1994: GE also has an early patent for a “A system and method for precisely superimposing
images of computer models in three-dimensional space to a corresponding physical object in
physical space.

1998 : Projection mapping really started to get traction when it was pursued in academia.
“Spatial Augmented Reality” was born out of the work by at UNC Chapel Hill by Ramesh Raskar,
Greg Welch, Henry Fuchs and Deepak Bandyopadhyay et al. It all got started with a paper The
Office of the Future [2]. The Office of the Future envisioned a world where projectors could
cover any surface. Instead of staring at a small computer monitor, we would be able to
experience augmented reality right from our desk. This means we could Skype with life-size

versions of our office mates, view life-size virtual 3D models. This work even featured an early
real-time, imperceptible 3D scanner (like the Kinect).

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 11

1999 : You may know John Underkoffler as the designer who invented the Minority Report
interface, and the Chief Scientist of Oblong Industries, Inc. But before that, he pioneered some
of the early work in interactive projection mapping.

He introduced the concept of the I/O Bulb (Input/Output Bulb), namely a projector coupled
with a camera that could one be as ubiqitous as a traditional light bulb.

2001 :Raskar’s follow on Shader Lamps work.

2004 : From there Raskar et al. went on to explore moveable projectors (predicting the pico
projectors of the future) [6]. These hand-held smart-projectors are aware of their position and
orientation through a variety of sensors. They demonstrated using smart projectors to aid in
warehouse inventory and maintenance.

2005-2006: Oliver Bimber then explored projecting onto paintings and converting drapes into
projection screens.

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 Research Methodology
Qualitative research approach is applied in this paper to study and provide detail about the
concept and working of wall based projection advertising and how it analytically compares to
other conventional forms of advertising. It is about exploring the concept, understanding the
phenomena and answering questions. In its most basic form, it involves the analysis of any
unstructured data, including: open-ended survey responses, literature reviews etc. Basically,
Qualitative research is a generic term for investigative methodologies described as naturalistic,
ethnographic, anthropological, field, or participant observer research.

In this research, literature of previous studies are quoted and described to study and have an
in-depth outlook regarding the concept and history of wall based projection advertising. The
principles of wall based projection advertising or projection mapping are further analyzed
through meta-analysis. Meta-analysis is the use of statistical methods to combine results of
individual studies. This allows us to make the best use of all the information we have gathered
in our systematic review by increasing the power of the analysis.

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Analysis and Discussion
The following are the results of the nine close ended survey questions that have been compiled and
analyzed, which were targeted at a very specific audience from the field of advertising.

Would you be in the favor of ads that could be projected on boundary walls via a wall mounted
projection device as compared to billboard and neon-sign advertising?

Ye 3 75%
s
No 1 25%

Wouldn’t setting up a billboard (for advertising space) be unnecessarily expensive if compared to a

cost-effective wall based projection advertising mechanism?

Ye 4 100%
s
No 0 0%

Do you think setting up a billboard advertisement is time and effort consuming as compared to wall
based projection advertising?

Ye 4 100%
s

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No 0 0%

Do you face problems with the maintenance of a bill board advertisement?

Ye 3 75%
s
No 1 25%

Would you agree that a solar powered, energy conserving projection device be a more economical
option as compared to a heavily power consuming neon-sign advertising mechanism?

Ye 4 100%
s
No 0 0%

Would you agree that a consumer\observer would be more attracted or impressed by a static to
dynamic visual advertisement projected on a boundary wall as compared to a billboard or other such
forms of advertisements?

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Ye 4 100%
s

No 0 0%

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Do you think a digital projection device capable enough to manipulate the size of a projection in any
way is less of a head-ache than the use of immense panaflax sheets?

Ye 2 50%
s

No 2 50%

Different weather conditions such as hazy storm or heavy rainfall may have an adverse impact on the
effectiveness of a billboard advertisement, do you agree?

Ye 4 100%
s

No 0 0%

Do you lose billboard advertising space due to acts of vandalism and structural damage done by
aggressive mobs on some occasions?

Ye 4 100%
s

No 0 0%

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 Conclusion & Future Recommendations
Hence the main ideological preference behind the conception of ADROID is to ensure global
class representation of quality advertising in Pakistan through means of an array of high-tech
minimalistic equipment tending to depict a modified illustration of modern day advertisements
and ensuring immense progression in the advertising sector of the country. In such regard, it
also symbolizes the arrival of a modern trend in Pakistan which will not only help introduce a
new method of advertising but will also contribute to materializing a more brilliantly
embellished aesthetical night-life outlook in various cities throughout the country.

We are confident that with a lot of hard work, and a bit of luck, ADROID may have a bright
future ahead of itself. We plan to better our product by focusing on specific areas of design,
while retaining the basic concept of the module.One of our primary concerns is shielding the
product from acts of vandalism; therefore we hope to use better materials that are both
durable, light and maintain cost effectiveness.Also, we’re counting on the makers of ADROID’s
constituent elements to develop improved parts such as a more efficient solar panel system,
and longer lasting batteries to help us improve our overall design.

National University of Modern Languages H-9, Islamabad 19

 References
System and method for a digital projection advertising display Jude P. Galligan, Matthew J.
WOOD,Jan 18, 2011 (US 7872643) and Sep 4, 2012 (US 8259094)

[1] Bimber, Oliver, Ramesh Raskar, and Masahiko Inami. Spatial augmented reality. AK Peters,
2005.

[2] Raskar, Ramesh, et al. “The office of the future: A unified approach to image-based
modeling and spatially immersive displays.” Proceedings of the 25th annual conference on
Computer graphics and interactive techniques. ACM, 1998.

[3] Raskar, Ramesh, Greg Welch, and Wei-Chao Chen. “Table-top spatially-augmented realty:
bringing physical models to life with projected imagery.”Augmented Reality, 1999. (IWAR’99)

[4] Raskar, Ramesh, et al. “Shader lamps: Animating real objects with image-based
illumination.” Proceedings of the 12th Eurographics Workshop on Rendering Techniques. 2001.

[5] Bandyopadhyay, Deepak, Ramesh Raskar, and Henry Fuchs. “Dynamic shader lamps:
Painting on movable objects.” Augmented Reality, 2001. Proceedings. IEEE and ACM
International Symposium on. IEEE, 2001.

[6] Raskar, Ramesh, et al. “RFIG: interacting with a self-describing world via photosensing
wireless tags and projectors.” ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG). Vol. 23. No. 3. ACM, 2004.

[7] Bimber, Oliver, et al. “Superimposing pictorial artwork with projected imagery.”ACM
SIGGRAPH 2006 Courses. ACM, 2006.

[8] Bimber, Oliver, Andreas Emmerling, and Thomas Klemmer. “Embedded entertainment with
smart projectors.” Computer 38.1 (2005): 48-55.

Note : The above mentioned references are obtained from, and cited at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_mapping

http://projection-mapping.org/the-history-of-projection-mapping/ (23 October 2013)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/arts/design/video-mapping-artists-use-light-as-a-
medium.html?_r=2& (January 25, 2012)

http://projection-mapping.org/whatis/

http://vvvv.org/documentation/how-to-project-on-3d-geometry#virtual-replica-of-the-real-
scene

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