World First: Beck’s Playable Posters

MEDIA RELEASE 1 MAY 2014
World First: Beck’s Playable Posters

In a technological coup, Beck’s New Zealand has today revealed the world’s first Playable Posters, which play music instantaneously when touched. Following the development of the world’s first playable beer bottle in 2013, Beck’s NZ is leading the world in the realm of music-inspired technology.

The Beck’s Playable Posters are made with conductive ink, which picks up electrical signals from fingers when activated parts of the poster are pressed (much like an iPad, except on paper). The conductive ink is linked to a speaker attached to the rear, which reverberates the poster and turns it into an 80 watt speaker.

The posters feature tracks Beck’s has commissioned from ten Kiwi artists to celebrate New Zealand Music Month in May. These tracks were heard for the first time through the posters, which launched today in Auckland.

Pete Dick from Beck’s NZ says: “Globally Beck’s has always been closely assimilated with music, art and fresh thinking and in New Zealand we’re leading the charge when it comes to cutting edge technology. The Playable Posters we’ve developed to promote New Zealand musicians are an exciting new medium for us, and provide a way to showcase some amazing local talent.”

Simon Curran, Managing Director at advertising agency Shine adds: “The traditional street poster has been around for over 200 years and it was time for a rethink. With the Beck’s Playable Posters, anyone can discover fantastic local talent, instantaneously, and in an unexpected setting. This technology is a genuine game changer for street posters and we’re proud to be the first in the world to harness its awesome potential. I expect we’ll start to see this technology used in a variety of applications.”

Beck’s Playable Posters will be up in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Whangarei, Dunedin, Palmerston North and Napier throughout NZ Music Month. See www.facebook.com/BecksNZ for exact locations and more content.

How it works:
Conductive ink is printed onto the reverse of the graphic to create capacitive touch sensors, which pick up the electrical signals from our fingers.

The conductive ink is connected to an Apple II style processor to introduce iPad like touch to the piece of paper. A piezo electric speaker attached to the rear reverberates the board and turns it into an 80-Watt speaker.

There are 20 touch points and around 12 minutes of new music and audio.

Designed in Cambridge, UK by Novalia, the technology has never been used commercially before.

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