TALKING POSTERS 

Picture this. You are walking along a fairly deserted Skytrain platform one evening looking for the next incoming train. An election poster on the wall shows the smiling face and white teeth of a political candidate. As you pass, the poster speaks, "Remember to vote next Tuesday." You have to stop and study this poster, which would normally be lost in the maze-of-poster-ads-environment, right? You're hooked. Victim of another Japanese innovation: talking posters. Transmittal art, to its supporters.

Two versions of these talking posters recently exposed to the public in Japan. One poster featuring a young lady was part of the Mayer election publication from Nagoya, and another group photo tells how citizens can participate to create the new city-concept for Shizuoka.

The operation is fairly simple and the same speaking-mechanism chip can be reprogrammed for a different poster, if desired. The framed poster can be easily hung or relocated. But it must be hung securely to avoid being pinched by souvenir seekers.

For the first time conversation has become visible. As a display piece for show rooms, exhibition of new products, sales campaigns and at service counters, "Talking Posters" may be the forerunner of other media that will give new meaning to the phrase "at the crack of dawn."

Triggered by a condensed infra-red human body sensor and adjustable to within a range of one to five metres (adjustable and works in total darkness) the Talking Poster unit runs on AC or DC power. It can operate for two months on six 1.5 volt batteries. It is available in recording and playback times of 8, 16, 24 and 32 seconds. It is prevented from continually talking by a 10-second delay between "speeches". Recordings will not fade for a year even with a power failure. Up to 150 sixty-second replays can be performed in one day exposing a minimum of 150 potential customers to the message.

Posters range in size from 240 mm X 310 mm to 728 mm X 1030 mm. They come complete with transparency film and a panel board and frame equipped with an AC power connector. As an information news service, a guide at counters or festival sites, or as a bulletin board and talking guide directing people to leisure or other facilities, this is the newest way to go. Expect rock concerts, movie spectaculars and election polling booths to start using the Talking Poster in the near future.

More information: Hatsuo Hoshi, President Hoshi Designs, Inc. 8-3, Otsubo cho, Shizuoka, Japan 422.

Tel: 91/542-82-6817. Fax: 81/542-82-6818.

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