We can slowly feel that the buzzword “Smart Cities” is more and more becoming a thing. While there are a lot of interesting concepts and ideas, there are relatively few companies out there that are already building products that would support a smart city to run.
Once such company is SEEDiA, from Krakow in Poland. They are building smart benches that collect power via solar panels and offer this energy to their users to charge their smartphones. Beyond that, they also provide the users access to the Internet via WiFi hotspot.
Parks & Recreation departments will love this, advertisers too
There is some variety in regards to what parts are used in the different product models, but these are the most important ones:
- Distribution Module: Manages energy acquired through solar panels and how it’s used
- Telemetry Module: Check CO² levels or capture bench usage and environment data
- Multimedia Module: Displaying data and playing back sounds (digital signage)
Depending on the business model in a particular area, users might need to register for that first, which makes the solution interesting for agencies running local marketing campaigns, as the user group mostly would fit the local target audience for retail. Clients can check data for all benches they have purchased and run analytics on bench utilization, e.g., how many people sat on it, used the charger, or just passed by.
Data lets clients adapt in an agile way
“We can program the module in such a way that, in case of power shortage, lower priority functions such as OLED and inductive charger will automatically be disabled”, explains Piotr Hołubowicz, SEEDiA’s CEO. “When it turns out that the given location rarely uses inductive charging, but normal charging spots are consistently used, we know that the bench should have more of the latter, while wireless charging is not a priority”.
As the SEEDiA smart benches are also collecting data, they are also useful for cities in need of automated sources for their analytics and reports. This is particularly interesting for cities in climate protection programs that need to monitor and report CO² levels in their area actively. All this collected data is stored in the cloud and can be used via client panel and SEEDiA Analytical Center.
There are different versions of the SEEDiA smart benches, but some even have an OLED display that could run digital signage services for ad networks or display public transportation schedules. They could also provide general city information, news, weather data or give warnings like that. One model even comes with speakers to play sounds.
Summary
The SEEDiA solution has a lot of potential. Whether cities deploy them or companies find themselves a business model to operate the benches, for users it would be a highly convenient option to charge up their smartphones and make use of the WiFi, while they are on the go. Whether they are waiting for the bus, relaxing in the park, or checking flight information at the airport, you should put this company on your watch list. What do you think about their products?
YouTube: SEEDiA mission
Photo credit: SEEDiA
Source: Press release provided by email from Łukasz Kamiński (Warsaw PR)
