Java Based leafengine Distributed Middleware

Andrew Neale

NEC Display Solutions Europe has finally officially unveiled leafengine, a software layer that it says “introduces a new era in context-aware digital signage”.

logo_leafengineportal_txtleafengine, a joint R&D project with NEC Laboratories in Heidelberg, is a distributed middleware layer that should – if anyone really knew what to do with it, Ed allow for the development of more intelligent digital signage solutions.

The middleware can connect with the vast array of sensors available today through a standardised interface and lets users build them into whatever digital signage applications they want.

Thorsten Wilm, Manager Software Solutions and Future Technologies at NEC Display Solutions Europe said “New smart signage uses sensors to drive interactive, personalised content based on what the sensors detect. This could be audience measurement, combined with touch screens, proximity sensors, NFC or QR readers. Encoding all the different manufacturers’ sensors and changing priorities can be time consuming and inflexible.”

“leafengine is middleware designed to drastically simplify the high complexity associated with programming and maintaining sensor-driven, context-aware signage. Once enabled, it allows end users to modify what happens with content based on a possible mix of sensors, giving the ability to maximise the benefits and sensor-backed audience accountability. It provides real-time interaction with minimal resource consumption and is designed to run next to the player software, making the whole process as simple as possible – and digital signage context-aware.”

The software itself is a small Java-based application that can run in a Windows or a Linux environment. Management of the application and the connected sensors is done via an online portal as well as through an intuitive web page graphical user interface or an HTTP REST API.


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