Planar Video Walls Help Reinforce Nike's New SoHo Retail Experience

Nike's newest retail innovation is a 55,000-square-foot store in downtown New York that intends to reimagine the consumer retail experience. Nike SoHo is a five-story, technology-infused space that includes a Nike+ Running Trial Zone where consumers can test shoes on treadmills, a Nike+ Soccer Trial Zone that features a turf field for testing soccer shoes, and a half-court Nike+ Basketball Trial Zone where customers can test shoes and perform custom drills under the guidance of a certified store athlete.

As a key component of the retail strategy at Nike SoHo, multiple video wall displays from Planar are integrated throughout the space to help support the store's design vision to "create a seamless link between Nike's digital and physical platforms."

Planar video walls provide immersive consumer experience

The video wall systems installed at Nike SoHo include Clarity® Matrix® LCD video walls and interactive Clarity Matrix MultiTouch LCD video walls. Designed with an ultra-narrow bezel, the Clarity Matrix video walls feature 800 nits brightness, LED backlight technology, and Full HD resolution while providing outstanding tiled visual performance. The Clarity Matrix MultiTouch video wall is equipped with 32 touch points for multi-user interaction and features Planar® ERO™ (Extended Ruggedness and Optics™) technology, an optically-bonded protective glass that makes the display four times stronger and more scratch resistant than other touch displays. Planar ERO also improves perceived contrast by more than 300 percent, giving viewers the highest quality visual experience.

At the Nike+ Basketball Trial Zone, the video wall are used to foster a unique digital interactive experience by surrounding consumers with high-definition images of iconic New York basketball courts. At the Nike+ Running Trial Zone, video walls enable for consumers to experience a stretch of Central Park or the West Side Highway as they test shoes on treadmills .

Additionally, a large Planar® DirectLight® LED Video Wall System is located immediately in the entrance to the Nike SoHo store, providing an impressive technological display to greet consumers. The flexible and easy-to-use Clarity® Visual Control Station™ (VCS™) video wall processor powers the Planar DirectLight LED video wall, enabling for simplified management through an all-in-one hardware and software solution.

Display technology helps transform the retail concept

With Nike forging ahead with its SoHo experimental retail idea, and again pushing the sports retail concept into new territory, the integration of Planar's cutting-edge video walls is helping to shape a one-of-a-kind consumer experience.