smart cities
Smart City projects are growing at a phenomenal
rate, driven largely by the introduction of intelligent
technologies including self-service kiosks
By Peerless-AV – www.peerless-av.com
To aid cities and towns in communicating
information in an effective and compelling
way to their residents and visitors,
modern kiosks have been developed and
incorporate fully-integrated functionality
and aesthetics. These kiosks are not only
approachable and ideal for promoting
greater public engagement, they are
functional, built to endure the rigours of
everyday use when unattended, and are
also customisable according to individual
branding requirements and optional
components can be incorporated. These
include environmental sensors, video
sensors, and LiDAR sensors, based on the
city or town’s application.
These smart city kiosks provide a
range of benefits for the city, its residents,
visitors, installers and systems integrators.
In using the Kiosks, cities and towns
can provide real-time information that
can be easily changed and updated
remotely. The kiosks can also be used
to enhance local safety, sharing contact
information for local emergency services
on the display or even incorporating
a one-button call to report and alert
any emergencies. In addition, the city
can utilise the kiosk for data collection,
assisting in asset management and
efficient use of resources.
For end-users, when coupled with
wayfinding software, the smart city
kiosk can serve as a wayfinding solution,
providing directions to local attractions,
restaurants, events, and much more.
The kiosk can also share real-time arrival
and departure information for public
transportation, as well as offer a way for
end-users to contact emergency services
when required. With an interactive
touchscreen overlay, the smart city
kiosk can enable end-users to learn
more about the surrounding area, play
educational games, and even take selfies.
For the installer or integrator, the
smart city kiosk provides a unique, easily
recognisable, all-weather, rugged solution
that is interactive, helping cities connect
with residents and tourists.
What smart symbolises
The smart in smart city kiosk refers to
the ability to add WiFi/cellular beacons
to the kiosk and utilise cameras, touch
interactivity, and other technologies to
collect data from any residents walking
nearby, devices in the area and assets.
This data can then be processed and
analysed to monitor and manage a
variety of services, including traffic, power
plants, water supply, waste management,
law enforcement, information systems,
schools, libraries and hospitals.
The smart city concept integrates
information and communication
technology, with various physical devices
connected to a network (the Internet of
things or IoT) to optimise the efficiency of
city operations and services and connect
to residents. Smart city technology also
allows city officials to interact directly with
both community and city infrastructure,
and to monitor what’s happening and
how the city is evolving.
Most installations to date have
been at street level in major cities via
advertising-funded networks. However,
there’s an upward trend in more towns
and cities taking control and owning these
smart city kiosks to offer digital directories
and wayfinding to build an identity and
pride amongst the local community.
In addition to city streets, there are
many similar applications where outdoor
smart kiosks can provide benefits. For
example, these kiosks would be useful
for businesses with large campuses,
universities, and airports – all applications
that have similar needs and goals for
providing time relevant information to
visitors, students and employees.
Design considerations
Outdoor applications for displays and
kiosks are ten times harder than indoor
applications owing to many environmental
and human elements, which can vary day
to day. Based on the nature of the setting,
a key priority is durability and ruggedness
in an unattended 24/7 environment. If
part of the kiosk is damaged, it must be
quick, easy, and cost effective to replace.
Similarly, since these kiosks will be used
to display advertisements for local and
national businesses, any kiosk downtime
means lost revenue and lost ROI.
Smart city kiosks featuring all-
weather rated, impact resistant outdoor
displays will ensure reliable, continuous
performance all year round, without the
worry of extreme hot or cold temperature
waves exposing the LCD to damage.
Deployment trends
Advertising-based rollouts were the initial
impetus for kiosk deployments, which
created a global awareness for smart city
kiosks and helped pave the way. However,
these only work in densely populated
cities. For smaller towns, smart city kiosks
would be best used for digital wayfinding,
directories, local information and services.
Like any technology-based solution,
the advancements made each year
outpace the previous year. The best
advice for city and town planners is to
determine exactly what they want in
terms of a Return on Objective (ROO)
for the smart city kiosk. This will help
determine the necessary technology to
include, and with the flexibility provided
by these kiosks, the deployments will be
relevant for years to come. n
KIOSK solutions 43