Case study · Lisbon
Brand Spain at the Web Summit, with its own technology on the wall.
From 1 to 4 November 2021, Red.es and ICEX España organised the Spain Pavilion at the Lisbon Web Summit with 33 startups. The institutional #SpainWS21 wall included a NaviLens code: any visitor could scan it from several metres away and hear, in their own language, which companies formed the delegation.
Web Summit 2021
1–4 Nov · Altice Arena · Lisbon
33 companies
Spain Pavilion organised by Red.es and ICEX
Main Hall 1.0
Institutional space with the #SpainWS21 wall
ES · EN · 36+
Voice readout in the language of the visitor's phone
The client
Spain Pavilion
Red.es · ICEX España
The Lisbon Web Summit is one of the largest tech gatherings in the world: in 2021 it brought together more than 40,000 attendees — founders, investors, press and public administrations — at the Altice Arena and the FIL from 1 to 4 November.
The Spain Pavilion is the country's institutional presence at the fair, organised by Red.es (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation) and ICEX España Exportación e Inversiones, with EU co-funding (ERDF). In 2021 it brought 33 Spanish startups to the Main Hall 1.0.
On that institutional stand, NaviLens — a technology born in Spain from Neosistec and the University of Alicante — was added to the main wall as a practical showcase of accessible innovation made in Spain for an international audience.
§ The challenge
Letting anyone find the stand and understand what's inside.
- 01
A 40,000-person tech fair across 4 days
Web Summit brings tens of thousands of founders, investors and press from across the world to Lisbon. For a blind or low-vision person — or any foreign visitor — finding the Spain Pavilion among the hundreds of stands in the Main Hall was virtually impossible without a companion.
- 02
Brand Spain consistent with its own technology
NaviLens is a technology born in Spain (Neosistec + University of Alicante). Having the Spain Pavilion show it on its main wall sent a double message: the country brings its 33 startups to Web Summit, and demonstrates on site one of its most internationally recognised accessibility innovations.
- 03
A sign that works through the crowd
The stand opens onto the venue's main aisle, with fair lighting, people crossing and no time to stop and read. A sign was needed that could be detected from several metres away, without focus and without having to aim at an exact point on the wall.
§ The solution
A code on the wall that speaks your language.
On the stand's grass wall — the same one carrying the illuminated SPAIN sign and the #SpainWS21 hashtag — a NaviLens code was placed at the natural phone height. The visitor opens NaviLens GO, makes a sweep without focusing and hears aloud — in the language of their phone — what the Spain Pavilion is, who organises it and which startups exhibit inside.
The same code serves as a NaviLens showcase for international investors and press: the technology is not explained on a panel, it is demonstrated the moment someone points a phone at the wall.
§ Why it matters
Accessibility as a country brand.
Coherence
A pavilion boasting Spanish innovation shows, on its main wall, a Spanish accessibility innovation. The technology is seen at work, not described in a brochure.
Multilingual
With visitors from more than 100 countries, the code is read in the language of each visitor's phone. The stand's language barrier falls without reprinting anything.
Inclusion
A blind or low-vision person can reach the stand and understand the offering of the 33 startups without asking for help at every step. The institutional presence stops having a single customer.
Official sources for the Pavilion: Red.es, ICEX-Invest in Spain, Marketing Directo.
§ And your headquarters?
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