If you’re a representative of a city or large town, you understand the importance of modernisation. Although preservation of historical buildings and landmarks is vital, there are a lot of modern features that you can include to turn your home into a ‘smart city’.
Digital kiosks are at the heart of this. They improve navigation for both locals and tourists, provide information that shows off your city’s best side, and promotes local businesses to improve their earnings.
If you’re looking for the next way to upgrade your city, look no further.
A Smart City is one that has embraced new technology to enhance the daily lives of both residents and visitors. You may assume that it’s not possible to modernise an entire city with only a few digital kiosks, but it’s already happening more than you realise.
London, Manchester, and Bristol are leading the way in the UK, revolutionising their transportation, energy sources, and infrastructure to provide better experiences for all, but in ways that aren’t harmful to the city or the environment.
Although there are big changes, such as improved street lighting and electric buses, that are the first things people think of when they picture a smart city, digital kiosks are still one of the most important investments.
In cities many businesses are already investing in digital kiosks to help sell their products and services. Walk down any major high street and you’ll see advertising kiosks in shop windows, digital menu boards outside restaurants, and you might even catch a glimpse of betting shop kiosks.
This is great for the individual businesses, but you can also transform the street itself. There are a few types of digital kiosk you can invest in, so let’s go over them one at a time.
A city cannot be considered ‘smart’ if tourists need to rely on old-fashioned sign posts to find their way. These are hard to read, aren’t placed as often as necessary, and can become outdated as the city changes around them. Like all traditional signage, replacing them is expensive and time-consuming; this isn’t the case with our wayfinding kiosks.
These advanced machines combine the utility of digital signage with the interactivity of information kiosks. At the tap of a screen users can access a live map of their location, another tap and they can enter their desired destination to be given a route or can choose from a list of popular tourist attractions, restaurants, train and bus stations, or other public services.
Depending on the layout of your city, there may be fantastic destinations that are often missed or overlooked. A wayfinding kiosk means that the hidden gems will be far less hidden. If you care about sharing the story of your city, this is a great, interactive experience for those who want to learn.
Each location can also contain information such as opening/closing times, as well as an indication of how busy they are at the moment. For anyone looking to see the sights, or if they just want to be pointed in the right direction, these kiosks are a perfect addition to your city streets.
One of the biggest changes to our daily lives in recent years has been the introduction of contactless payments. Cash is slowly being fazed out, and many businesses are only accepting card payments going forward. So why should your amenities be any different?
Our payment kiosks enable users to pay using their cards, and they can be integrated in more locations than you may realise. The most common is in car parks. These are essential in cities for commuters and visitors, so ticketing kiosks that accept contactless payments are essential for these busy people. Contactless also works regardless of the currency in your bank account, so tourists don’t have to make withdrawals and exchange cash.
With payments easier than ever, it’s time to discuss what visitors should be spending their money on.
If you’re responsible for a city, or part of it, you understand the importance of supporting local businesses. Although they can promote themselves, there are many ways that you can help their endeavours.
Advertising kiosks are tall, totem-style screens that display images, text, and videos in full HD. These are usually digital advertising, but there are some that are interactive, so you can find more information about the business or particular product by touching the screen.
Most advertising kiosks have a rolling display, changing what’s on screen after a set time. This means that multiple products can be advertised at once, supporting as many businesses as possible. Unlike traditional advertising banners that need to be changed manually, advertising kiosks are programmed remotely, so their displays can be changed at any time with very little input required.
The placement of these advertising kiosks is down to your preferences. They can be static, installed on pavements where they won’t get in the way of pedestrians, or attached to bus shelters like traditional advertising. Their small footprint makes them very versatile, but we also design them with toughness in mind.
All our kiosks are made with solid shells, that are resistant to intentional damage and general wear and tear. Their screens are also thick, but not to the point where the display loses its HD quality. The only necessary maintenance is an occasional clean to keep them working at their best.
This is one of the reasons why so many business owners are choosing 10Squared for their digital kiosks, and it’s far from the only one.
With smart cities becoming more prevalent, it’s important to do what you can to give every street its own unique character. Modernisation can lead to uniformity, and although our interactive kiosks are as universal as possible for ease of use, we’ll also make sure they’re unique to your city.
This is the main benefit of choosing us, as our kiosks are all bespoke, customised to suit your exact needs and preferences. This includes the overall design, which can have branding or a stylish look that suits your city, as well as any features the people you represent may appreciate.
We’ll meet with you to establish your exact needs and show you our previous prototype kiosks so you can be inspired. Once you’re 100% happy with our designs, we’ll get started, producing everything in house and keeping you in the loop with regular updates.
Turning a city into a smart city cannot be done overnight, it’s a process that takes years, and too many drastic changes made too quickly could have the opposite of the desired effect. But a set of shining digital kiosks will always be appreciated.
