Thanks to an Estonian start-up iComTV - founded by an Estonian rock guitarist Marco Rüütel and a post-production video engineer Arti Itra from New York - sitting on a dentist’s chair during the dentistry is now a pleasant and exciting pastime.

How come? Easy. The guys from iComTV believe that “positive thoughts make better treatment”. So they provide “emotionally positive experience for patients” and “significant added value for the dentists”.

The unpleasant becomes adorable

While your teeth is being treated, you watch and enjoy a relaxing non-stop entertainment program from the 22’’ wide-screen LCD monitor, hanged on the ceiling. Time flies while you are entertained, so without you even noticing it, they’re done with your teeth. 

Come to think of it – the same way one could be entertained during a surgery, hairdressing, manicure, you name it.

The movies are mostly about nature, since nature has proven to be relaxing. iComTV holds all copyrights for the content, they buy the raw material and edit it.  There are no commercials in the program you’d usually have to worry about.

The program pioneers

„We can’t take credit fot the idea of entertainment in dentistry, since it is not a new one. But we consider ourselves the pioneers of paying serious attention to the program,“ Rüütel says.

Another concept iComTV is working on is other OOH (out-of-home) TV solutions. The aim is to create new media channels for contemporary marketplace. To put the LCD monitors up, for example, in stores, and show silent movies, advertising, thematic content or brand-related videos.

iComTV provides the full package, with specially developed firmware and user interface for offering any of the mentioned.

Pilots in bus terminals and blood centers

Rüütel says there’ll be more news coming. “We have several substantial developments in progress related to in-store media. The pilot tests are ongoing in a few bus terminals. The medical solution is being tested in the blood centers of Tallinn and in about ten dentistries over Estonia,” he says.

An Estonian dentist Alon Rassi confirms that his patients are more relaxed and less afraid because of the TV solution. “For some of them the monitor on ceiling is like an encouraging rope they can glom on to when feeling helpless. The patient no longer makes sharp and nervous movements that could potentially be of harm during the treatment.”

Media misused

Rüütel can tell you all about how the traditional media (outdoor advertising, TV, newspapers etc) is often misused for advertising, because different concepts having different requirements for attracting the attention.

According to Rüütel the old media like outdoor advertising or television is vastly different than Digital Signage the company has looked into. Both the  viewing conditions and purpose are different.

“The result could be inefficient placement of the screens, for example hanging high from the ceiling in shopping malls where it  really can’t work, as in reality people are rather staring down or at  the display windows of the stores. The format of TV commercials, still widely used in out of home media, is not quite suitable for it. You really can’t use audio in public spaces, especially staffed ones like stores as hearing the same “noise” over and over will drive the salespeople crazy. Also the length and narration require completely different approach,” he explains.

Narrative-less films

iComTV started with in-depth analysis that gave provided a profile of potential viewer and an idea of media positioning. Secondly they developed a programming concept. “To dilute the unattractiveness of non-stop advertising we added silent narrative-less short entertainment films,” Rüütel says.  

For the international sales of iComTV Medical solution the company is looking for the distributors. Over 20 countries in Europe, US and Arabian peninsula, plus Australia are on target. They’ll see if the advertising business works out in foreign markets as well.

iComTv, the company trying to combine digital media with innovation, is a resident of Tehnopol technology park in Tallinn, Estonia.