SINGAPORE - Shoppers at Orchard Road on Wednesday evening got a sneak preview of SMRT Media's new illuminated double-decker bus. A first in Singapore, the bus has a breakthrough lighting film technology - eLumiNEX - which allows for illumination of large-format print surfaces.

The bus was launched on Thursday on Service 190. It has a lit 12m-long canvas, with an advertising campaign by Huawei for its latest mobile phone Honor 4X.

Ms Jeslyn Tan, senior general manager at SMRT Media & Digital Business, said the illuminated bus "offers advertisers an eye-catching way to capture consumers' attention and transform their ads when the sun sets".

The innovation is the result of a collaboration between SMRT Media, the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology (SIMTech), which comes under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research A*Star, A*Star's technology transfer arm ETPL and local SME large-format printer Film Screen.

SIMTech executive director Lim Ser Yong said: "It is exciting to see A*Star's research on printed lighting come to life, with the technology we created now in motion."

For the first advertising campaign on the illuminated bus, consumers who spot the bus can stand to win one of six Honor 4X phones. Consumers need to snap a photo of the Huawei double-decker bus (Service 190) on the roads and post it on their Facebook with the hashtag #CatchHuawei. The contest ends on June 1.

Huawei Device Singapore country head Low Han Thong said: "SMRT Media's innovative advertising and e-commerce platform have proven very effective for Huawei, and is now even more creative with the addition of the illuminated double- decker bus."

Interested advertisers can get more information on smrtmedia.com.sg.