The idea of giving blood is popping up all over the place! I had a pretty low-key night yesterday, yet still found a ‘Give Blood’ advertisement in the first level of the video game Left4Dead and watched the TV show ‘V’ unravel a major plot point that was derived from blood donation. Neither of those compares to this though…

The Japanese Red Cross Society is known for taking some innovative and creative steps to attract youthful blood donors. Last year we took a look at one of their new donor centers, complete with Star Trek style furnishings, anime action figures lining the walls, and translucent signage as if you were on a starship. Most of the signage appears to be in English too, which is the ‘cool’ thing over there. Here is a peak at what they are doing now-

The Digital Signage Consortium has set up a few displays in Japan that use Augmented Reality to attract individuals to learn more about donating blood. It uses facial recognition technology to apply anime hair and a Red Cross hat onto your reflection. From the videos out there, looks like these displays are garnering a lot of attention!