Interactive messaging apparatus and method

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a display unit to display messages;

a computing device coupled to the display unit, including a communication unit; and

an interactive message service to be operated by the computing device to selectively display messages of a collection of messages, in response to navigation controls received from a proximally located portable client device, through the communication unit;

wherein the interactive message service includes

a user interface service to provide the client device with a navigation interface to provide the navigation controls to interact with messages of the collection displayed on the display unit; and

a message rendering service to select and render on the display unit, messages of the collection, in response to the navigation controls provided through the navigation interface provided to the proximally located portable client device;

wherein the user interface service is to further collect information from the proximally located portable client device to determine whether the proximally located portable client device is associated with a known user of a sponsor of the collection of messages;

wherein the message rendering service to select and render on the display unit, messages of the collection, further based on information about the known user known to the sponsor; and

wherein the interactive message service further includes a communication service to broadcast invitation messages to invite proximally located portable client devices to interact with displayed messages; establish a connection with a proximally located portable client device, when the proximally located portable client device respond to the invitation messages, and seek consent of connected client device(s), when there are connected client devices, before establishment of a connection with a responding proximally located portable client device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the collection of messages includes initial non-interactive messages, and interactive messages, wherein the message rendering service is to select and render on the display unit the initial non-interactive messages, when no proximally located portable client device is connected with the apparatus, and select and render the interactive messages in response to the received navigation controls, when at least one proximally located portable client device is connected with the apparatus.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the user interface service is to further contact a remote server associated with the sponsor to obtain information about the known user known to the sponsor.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the collection of messages is an interactive advertisement.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the proximally located portable client device is a smartphone or a computing tablet.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is a kiosk.

7. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause a computing system, in response to execution of the instructions, to:

provide a proximally located portable client device with a navigation interface to provide navigation controls to interact with messages of a collection of messages displayed on a display unit; and

selectively update display of the messages, in response to navigation controls received from the proximally located portable client device, through the provided navigation interface;

wherein the computing system is further caused to collect information from the proximally located portable client device to determine whether the proximally located portable client device is associated with a known user of a sponsor of the collection of messages; and to select and render on the display unit, messages of the collection, based further on information about the known user known to the sponsor; and

broadcast invitation messages to invite proximally located portable client devices to interact with displayed messages; establish a connection with a proximally located portable client device, when the proximally located portable client device responds to the invitation messages, and seek consent of connected client device(s), when there are connected client devices, before establishment of a connection with a responding proximally located portable client device.

8. The storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the collection of messages includes initial non-interactive messages, and interactive messages, wherein the computing system is caused to select and render on the display unit the initial non-interactive messages, when no proximally located portable client device is connected with the computing system, and select and render the interactive messages in response to the received navigation controls, when at least one proximally located portable client device is connected with the computing system.

9. The storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the computing system is further caused to contact a remote server associated with the sponsor to obtain information about the known user known to the sponsor.

10. The storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the collection of messages is an interactive advertisement.

11. A method, comprising:

providing, by a computing system, to a proximally located portable client device with a navigation interface to provide navigation controls to interact with messages of a collection of messages displayed on a display unit; and

selectively updating, by the computing system, display of the messages, in response to navigation controls received from the proximally located portable client device, through the provided navigation interface;

wherein the method further comprises seeking, by the computing system, consent of connected client device(s), when there are connected client devices, before establishing a connection with the proximally located portable client device;

broadcasting invitation messages to invite proximally located portable client devices to interact with displayed messages; establishing a connection with a proximally located portable client device, when the proximally located portable client device responds to the invitation messages, and seeking consent of connected client device(s), when there are connected client devices, before establishment of a connection with a responding proximally located portable client device.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the collection of messages includes initial non-interactive messages, and interactive messages, wherein selectively updating comprises selecting and rendering on the display unit the initial non-interactive messages, when no proximally located portable client device is connected with the computing system, and selecting and rendering the interactive messages in response to the received navigation controls, when at least one proximally located portable client device is connected with the computing system.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising collecting, by the computing system, information from the proximally located portable client device to determine whether the proximally located portable client device is associated with a known user of a sponsor of the collection of messages; and selecting and rendering on the display unit, messages of the collection, based further on information about the known user known to the sponsor.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising contacting, by the computing system, a remote server associated with the sponsor to obtain information about the known user known to the sponsor.