Multi-user interaction with public screens using mobile devices

Public screens can now be found in many places, from shopping malls and airports to museums and restaurants, and even in the outside walls of tall buildings. These public screens usually convey contextual information to the public, and even though some of them support interactivity via touchscreen, the same information is always displayed to all its users regardless of their interests or preferences. On the other hand, mobile devices in general have shown great success by substantially increasing their numbers and their power. As such it is common to start viewing them as tools to achieve previously unattainable capabilities. In this article we engage the idea of using mobile devices to allow multiple users to simultaneously interact with public screens. As a matter of motivation, we consider a few potential applications that range from the marketing to the entertaining industry. We discuss some key characteristics that are desired on a platform that supports this kind of interaction. Finally we present PACMEN, a platform that supports the development of applications oriented to allow multiple users to simultaneously interact with public screens using mobile devices.