Pollen flies when the train arrives!? Real-time Sneeze Signage at Roppongi Station

While people are watching for cherry blossom forecasts, hay fever season is also in full swing. Amidst this, the digital signage "Roppongi Home Vision" on the platform of Toei Oedo Line's Roppongi Station is temporarily displaying "Real-Time Sneeze Signage," conveying pollen forecasts and other information.

This is a joint real-time content delivery experiment by Dentsu Inc. and Yahoo!, available for seven days from March 14th to 20th.

Digital signage announcing cherry blossom blooming information. The visuals feature two versions: footage of model Kanon Kawaguchi and comedian Imoarai-zaka Section Chief enjoying the cherry blossoms.

When a train glides into the station, the blooming information vanishes, pollen flies in, and a series of loud sneezes erupt, switching the display to pollen information. By combining and displaying separate information, it enables the provision of more valuable information for users, such as "Enjoy hanami while being mindful of pollen."

Throughout the period, the signage will automatically deliver timely content of high consumer interest in near real-time. This includes the "Pollen Index" from "Yahoo! Weather & Disasters," "Trending Words" from social media via "Yahoo! Search (Real-Time)," and movie showtimes at theaters around Roppongi provided by "Yahoo! Movies."

Previous digital signage systems required pre-production and submission of content. However, the two companies developed a proprietary system enabling easy automatic broadcasting of time-sensitive content.

Details here (Dentsu Inc. News Release).