Simulation · 8 Sept 2026 · Peter Hanlon

Who actually sees a DOOH screen?

The power of DOOH

This Skyrise Labs build is an agent simulation of digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens in King's Cross western concourse. An agent is tagged as a verified view only when their line of sight intersects a screen's visibility cone — distance plus viewable angle — which is not the same as opportunity-to-see.

I had wanted to show that distinction in 3D for a while: autonomous agents moving through the space, tagged when they can actually see a board. I used King's Cross because I know the architecture well, having commuted into it most days for over a decade.

The clip: visibility cones on four concourse screens, agents moving through the space, and a tagged view when line of sight hits a cone. The departure board is live Network Rail data.

Why we built it

I just thought it would be really cool if I'm honest, and I wanted to lean into a philosophy we have sort of adopted: creating rich, immersive experiences to help sell concepts and ideas. Origin-destination tools are fun and powerful, but I knew this would be different. The station architecture is iconic, and starting outside before zooming in under the arch is what sells it.

It looks like a simulation

I deliberately made it look like a simulation. Too much realism detracts from the message. I played around with the agent style — I did not want them too human. Originally they were very blocky, which I found distracting, so I made them rounder. I still might change them.

Live departure board

The arrival and departure board is live. On page open we call the Network Rail APIs for King's Cross, then move trains and passengers to match. Clicking an arrival triggers that train on the platform and passengers disembark.

How to use it

Open the live build, drag to take the camera, toggle cones and tagged view, speed it up, click a passenger to follow them, drop your own creative on all four screens. If something feels wrong, that is useful — tell me.