How light projections in retail promote the shopping experience.

Do you know the story: a clever burglar hides his captured jewels inside an orange. Where should he now hide the orange so that the police won’t find his loot? Of course, he deposits the precious fruit in a large box full of oranges!

This anecdote makes us aware of a problem faced by anyone who needs to communicate information in public space: There is a visual and acoustic overload of stimuli. Customers or visitors filter this flood of stimuli and information and experience their environment only selectively. Every notice board, banner or display – they often elude our perception and remain hidden, like the orange among the oranges.

Light projection is a medium which, in its reduced design and thanks to its unusual nature, increasingly comes into the focus of perception, as current studies have shown. Floors are particularly suitable as projection surfaces, as customers choose their way over them, typically with a shopping trolley in food retailing. Projected information is often consciously perceived by those who orient themselves. The projected images are actively interrupted and altered by the shadows cast by passers-by.

Important information for customers and visitors relates to orientation in the building, such as the way to special offers or to the checkout. It conveys security, independence and relieves employees who are approached by customers in order to find goals in the building. The simplicity of an analogue light projection with a static motif can clearly score points as a solution prior to the use of a digital projector playing video clips: Reducing stimuli to the necessary level is the order of the day.

Photos: Frank Derksen