Back in March of 2020, when Purell was precious and we were all washing our hands for 20-seconds at a time, Xfinity realized retail touch-screens needed an update. When customers returned to stores they’d need a safer way to engage with crucial content on retail devices. Our job was to find a way for Xfinity visitors to safely engage with the content — and have a bit of fun.

Make every touch screen device — touch-free. Simple, right? We set out to give Xfinity customers a taste of the future, by giving in-store devices new touch-free capabilities. Customers would be able to browse content on iPhones and iPads with a simple wave of their hand.

Protect the Xfinity retail experience during the pandemic by empowering visiting customers to explore offers on their own, in a safe, innovative, and fun way.

We used new gesture-recognition code that enabled devices to register a simple wave through the front-facing camera. The code was applied to existing 2017 iPhone and iPad displays giving them new touch-free capabilities. By leveraging the magic of deep machine learning, we transformed five-year-old Apple devices into touch-free gesture-controlled screens. Iterative user testing paired with the latest iOS Swift practices in animation and performance optimizations honed an intuitive interface that customers enjoyed exploring.

In over 13,000 sessions customers averaged over 60 seconds per session, 90% didn’t touch, and 93% found it fun and safe. During the most recent campaign, 100% of prospective customers acknowledged the retail innovation provided by Xfinity, and awareness of the app drove an 8% increase in sales on the product represented in the app.