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Image via imageSurge
Think about how you use your smartphone. A slight wave of the hand or swipe of the finger is all it takes to activate apps, browse the web, and do well...pretty much anything. It’s a miracle of modern technology. The screens of our devices have evolved to such sophistication that the lightest touches are all we need to communicate, engage, and discover
What if this technology could be applied to bigger devices? What if you could interact with larger screens in the same way you interact with your pocket-sized phone?
One entrepreneur, Ilya Alshine, saw this opportunity for innovation. He envisioned a new model for digital signage, one which functioned less like a display ad and more like your handy iPhone. What started as an idea evolved into imageSurge, a startup providing interactive storefront displays equipped with through-window touchscreen technology. Pedestrians passing by are able to touch, click, and engage with the digital screen through the window, transforming unremarkable storefronts into lucrative points of engagement with consumers.
imageSurge patent-pending technology is the only solution of its kind able to operate through energy efficient commercial storefront windows, and the unique value proposition has made imageSurge an enormous success. Choosing to focus on the real estate market, imageSurge’s clients represent over 1,000 offices and 25,000 agents worldwide and the startup recently scored the Inman Innovator Award – the most prestigious real estate technology award in the U.S.
Alshine’s idea didn’t yield success overnight. Through perseverance and ingenuity he was able to solve “what seemed like a fatal technical obstacle posed by energy efficient windows, the dominant and growing share of commercial storefront windows,” CEO Oleg Vyadro said.
“As a result, of his work as well as that of Joe Grassia (the second of three co-founders) who built the software platform, imageSurge today offers the only solution that works through any type of glass, with the type of touch responsiveness that we all expect today from our interactive devices,” Oleg added.
imageSurge has only started to tap into the potential unlocked by this groundbreaking technology, and the startup’s rapid rise to success is just the beginning of a long journey ahead.
“It still amazes me when I encounter our products around the country and remember the first time Ilya described the idea,” Vyadro added.
We sat down with imageSurge CEO Oleg Vyadro to get the inside scoop on the startup’s story, discover the ROI of a digital storefront, and find out what’s next for the pioneering tech company.
Congratulations on winning the 2013 Innovative Technology Award at the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference. Briefly share that experience.
Oleg Vyadro: The Inman Technology Awards are probably the most influential and authoritative when it comes to technology and real estate, so it was a very unexpected and exciting achievement for the team. It represented a milestone, marking a successful introduction of the technology, adoption by key real estate brands across the country, and a vote of confidence for our operational capabilities.
What the original vision for imageSurge?
imageSurge is the brainchild of Ilya Alshine who had a number of insights into the evolving digital signage industry, and the significance and the opportunity of introducing through-window interactivity. Ilya had a very clear functional and aesthetic product vision from the start...
The vision for imageSurge today is breathtaking – we are bringing the digital experience to storefront glass, a completely neglected frontier. And it applies to any merchant that relies on foot-traffic. If you examine the history of retail storefront marketing, you see no real changes in over a century and a half. By bringing digital interactivity, we can completely re-define the experience for both the business owner and their potential customers on the street. Real time content and videos, lead capture, previously unavailable usage analytics, even storefront transactions (i.e. real window shopping), another words an unprecedented ability to get a superior return for that prime real estate space.
How does imageSurge transform a storefront window into a marketing platform?
Again, bringing the digital experience to the storefront window is a game changer. Think of the difference between reading a newspaper in print and interacting with a web-based publication. For both the publisher and the reader, it’s a richer and more intelligent interaction.
We are doing the same thing for the retail storefront. For real estate offices, for example, we are replacing a limited number of listing sheets, with a content rich, through-window interactive experience that today’s consumer expects. This deeper engagement is already translating into more prospects and sales, and new listings for our real estate customers. We are also providing increasingly sophisticated data on what happens at their windows during and after hours. This is an unprecedented and evolving value proposition.
The phrase “display is dead” has been tossed around the marketing industry. Do you think imageSurge challenges that sentiment?
As long as people are leaving their homes, outdoor display is here to stay. However, we believe that interactivity is almost expected now, by all constituents. We are helping to bring a lot of these disparate realties together: retail locations, digital media, new expectations.
Do you believe imageSurge is a pioneer in the ‘Internet of Things’?
First and foremost, we are at the forefront of storefront interactivity, and there are two aspects to this: our interface technology that allows interactivity through any window and under any conditions, and our software platform that is continuously evolving specifically to the unique dynamics of the outdoor, walk-up-and-use scenario. Searching on a busy Manhattan street is very different that sitting in front of a computer. So we are definitely in new territory, with a new set of requirements, gaining and passing a ton of knowledge.
What do you envision for the future of imageSurge?
imageSurge must continue to grow and structure itself as an organization that will generate innovation. That is the key to unlocking additional value for our customers in real estate, and will allow us to enter new markets. We are particularly intrigued by the possibilities in retail.
