News

Digital Retailing Expo: SMART, Carnival win digital retailer award

May 18, 2006

CALGARY, Alberta - SMART Technologies Inc. announced that SMART and Carnival Cruise Lines have won the 2006 Digital Retailer of the Year Award for best-in-class creative content in hospitality.

According to a news release, SMART's Actalyst interactive digital signage is aboard several Carnival Cruise Lines vessels, including Carnival Miracle, Carnival Valor and Carnival Liberty. Acting as a virtual concierge, interactive bulletin board and wayfinder, the touch-enabled digital signage screen is used by guests to access information about deck plans, onboard events, meal times, shipboard staff, shore tours and port-of-call information. On average, there are four high-tech kiosks per vessel, and each vessel can accommodate between 2,124 and 2,974 guests. The award ceremony took place May 17 at the 2006 Digital Retailing Expo, the forum for digital signage and digital retailing solutions in Chicago.

The 2006 Digital Retailing Expo awards were adjudicated by a team of editors from VM+SD (Visual Merchandising and Store Design) magazine. The Digital Retailing Expo Best in Class Award adds to the growing list of awards for Actalyst interactive digital signage, including the Editors' Choice Award from "Buildings Magazine" awarded six months ago.

"The capability of interactive shipboard signage has increased dramatically over the past several years," said Tony Manthe, video services project manager for Carnival Cruise Lines. "While technological advancements have increased, the basis for shipboard signage remains the same - user-friendly creative content combined with effective hardware solutions. The incorporation of Carnival's interactive content with SMART's Actalyst system has proven to be a highly effective means of keeping our guests abreast of all sorts of information related to their cruise. And with the introduction of larger and more technologically advanced vessels, we expect to see more use of interactive technology in the years to come."

"Carnival Cruise Lines uses Actalyst interactive digital signage to create an easily accessed, reliable and user-friendly resource for a diverse shipboard population," says Nancy Knowlton, SMART's president and co-chief executive. "It's a winning combination for cruisers who want up-to-the-minute information at any time of the day or night in multimedia formats."