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More than finding your way. Touch a screen, and learn about the sustainability inside this building; or about the generous donor whose name is on it.

People see a screen and want to interact with it. Colleges and universities are catching on, finding innovative ways to let their community members do just that.

Among the most common and advantageous uses are wayfinding and donor recognition, shares Spencer Graham, manager of operations of West Virginia University Information Stations responsible for behind-the-scenes operations of WVU’s digital signage network. WVU was an early adopter of digital signage, creating a 10-sign network for emergency messaging in 2005 immediately following the Virginia Tech tragedy. That network now includes more than 100 screens, including interactive ones, across four campuses.

“Higher education is a new vertical market [for interactive digital signage] as far as I’m concerned, because you’re not selling like you are in retail,” says Graham. “This is an area that digital signage has a very specific usage in. Wayfinding certainly comes in. We also see donor walls as a big thing, because you can only put so many brass plaques on the wall.” And for all of WVU’s interactive digital signage installed and to be installed, “the functionality we’re planning on leveraging makes for a very pleasant experience for whoever is interacting with our signage,” from students, to faculty, to visitors to the university.