How Clemson University Improved Campus Engagement with Digital Signage

Clemson University is a leader in athletics, academics, and innovation. Learn how Clemson’s Watt Innovation Center inspires students with the help of digital signage solutions.

Hypersign’s visual communication solutions provides Universities with
one solution for managing their digital signage, wayfinding, room signage,
etc. to improve campus engagement without sacrificing ease of use.

The Challenge

Clemson University has made a habit out of winning national championships, but like any other University, administrators want to keep their students, faculty, and visitors engaged with what’s happening academically and socially around campus. In January 2016, the Watt Family Innovation Center opened utilizing state-of-the-art technology, and quickly became the hub on campus for students developing new ideas into real-world applications. The Watt Center is outfitted with over thirty-two public facing displays, including five touch video walls and a 209’ outdoor color kinetics media lights display made up of more than 45,000 individual LEDs. The primary challenge arose when trying to manage content for the displays, which was difficult and slow to update. The media lights display was a distraction for nearby buildings, and it was imperative that the Watt Center staff have a way to schedule it for display during the fifteen-minute intervals between classes. In addition to content management challenges, the Watt Center wanted to offer a mobile app that would provide navigation to specific labs, classrooms, partnership offices, and student collaboration spaces.

The Solution

The Watt Center already had displays and equipment, and fortunately Hypersign+ Digital Signage is player agnostic, so it only took minutes to add Hypersign+ to their existing devices. Within the easy to use web platform, each device layout was created and pushed within seconds to the displays via the cloud, including the outdoor media lights. The Hypersign+ scheduling feature allowed staff to easily maintain the reoccurring schedule for the media lights display, as well as plan ahead for custom event content. Additionally, Hypersign+ offers a wayfinding extension called Waystation, so the Watt Center was able to implement touch kiosks and a mobile app. Waystation Touch and Waystation Go update simultaneously from one online portal, where staff are able to update points of interest, navigation paths, and personnel directory. Since Waystation is an extension of Hypersign+, all touch kiosks are managed as easily as any other digital sign and can be updated using the schedule feature as needed.

Lastly, the emergency alert feature is offered standard with Hypersign+, meaning the entire network of displays offers safety messaging in the event of a building or campus emergency. With Hypersign+ Alert, the Watt Center had the flexibility to add custom emergency messaging for fire, active shooter, severe weather and nuclear emergencies. Whether triggered from a tablet by their Security Director or CAP stream, the Watt Center can now communicate a clear cohesive message across all displays regarding the nearest exists, evacuation plans or updates on active emergency situations.

The Result

Since implementing Hypersign+, Clemson became the 2017 winner of the Best DigitalSignage on a US University Campus. “Dr. Watt had the vision for this innovative building. With Hypersign’s help, we made The Watt Center interactive for the students and professors. We created innovative learning spaces that are easy to use, and maximize the technological advancements,” says Susan Reeves, Operations & Support Manager at the Watt Center. After opening their fourth floor, they added two additional touch kiosks and three digital signage displays. In a building where innovation is not only part of the name, but central to their vision, Hypersign is proud to have been a part of helping the Watt Family Innovation Center increase engagement through the latest technologies and visual
communication solutions