I have to admit after following it very closely this year,CES (Consumer Electronics Show) didn’t seem to deliver it’s usual punch of hype and ensuing drool flood for gadget freaks. Frankly, I think we are all waiting to see what happens with the home television market and what some companies (*cough* Apple) will do.

It’s almost universally agreed that the television screen is still the central hub of “group” home content consumption, and that the television remains a relevant piece of hardware albeit suffering a personality crisis at the moment.

With that in mind, what did impress was Samsung’s transparent LCD Smart Window which was awarded a CES 2012 Innovation Award. Retailers take note. Imagine the possibilities of “on glass” interactivity and content aligned to window merchandising.

Take your average fashion retailers store window, now put some mannequins in the window (dress them), punch it up with some visually compelling decor elements and you’ve created the standard for today’s window shopper.

Now add a smart screen component in order to visual overlay content in front of the traditional display and you can offer a myriad of new ways to attract and engage. Textures, lighting, depth, motion as well as access to information such as couponing, online content, sales and special offers. That’s just the tip of this almighty iceberg, the options are countless.

Pretty exciting and I look forward to seeing the convergence of retail decor and digital interactivity.

Historically, it’s been an argument between printed signage and/​or digital signage in a retailers window, this technology answers that question nicely with a very neutral — both.