Downtown Cincinnati, OH is installing interactive kiosks – called IKE (Interactive Kiosk Experience) – to help residents and visitors navigate the city. IKE Smart City, the City of Cincinnati, and 3CDC formed a zero-cost partnership to bring the project into being.
“With IKE kiosks now installed on our city sidewalks, Cincinnati has joined the ranks as a cutting edge, smart city, providing a best-in-class interactive kiosk to our citizens and visitors to showcase all that Cincinnati has to offer,” Mayor Aftab Pureval said. “I look forward to seeing our residents and visitors interact with these kiosks to connect with our great city.”
An initial five kiosks have been installed, with a total of 30 planned. The IKE kiosks have double-sided, ADA-compliant touchscreens. Each kiosk serves as a free WiFi hotspot which can display information specific to its surrounding area. Multilingual content listings and directories of local businesses, events, job listings, social services, food support, etc. are available. Each kiosk also features an app that will highlight the historical importance and background of the neighborhood in which it is located. The kiosks can also display severe weather alerts, AMBER alerts, fire warnings, active shooter events and more, which are provided by more than 1,000 different certified authorities.
“We are thrilled to partner with 3CDC and the City of Cincinnati to bring IKE to this vibrant and historic urban community. IKE will further activate the pedestrian experience providing widespread connectivity, wayfinding and equal access to information to all communities,” said Pete Scantland, CEO of IKE Smart City. “We’re excited to serve the residents and visitors of Cincinnati.”