Waterloo, ON-based WestonExpressions has launched Linkett, a new hardware and software system that makes any screen with a USB or HDMI connection NFC device compatible and allows users to turn static ads into interactive ones.

Douglas Lusted, founder and CEO, WestonExpressions, tells MiC that the device plugs into the front of a screen, connecting it to cloud-based software, which allows the client to connect to the back end and schedule real time ads to appear. In addition to pushing motion-activated ads at passerby the Linkett system also tracks analytics, giving realtime numbers for the amount of people who simply walk by the screen as well as the people who interact with it by doing things like downloading coupons.

Lusted says the idea, which was originally brought together at the University of Toronto’s Creative Destructions Lab is currently running in beta testing with a set of 15 retailers in Waterloo and Toronto. It is available for pre-order online, with units shipping out to clients for the hard launch later this fall. Three Linkett devices and access to the online platform with two months of service is currently available for $99.

“I don’t have a technical background, and I wanted people to be able to advertise without having a separate technical team to do it,” says Lusted. “With Linkett you can tell how many people saw the ads, and it saves the company the cost of having a technical team to do it. There is no third party involved, which I think is a big value-add for the clients.”