MIT spinoff Soofa has joined forces with Visionect to activate public spaces in Boston. The result is the Soofa Sign – described as the bulletin board of the 21st century.
The solar-powered smart urban furniture uses electronic paper to share information with the local community and Boston, through a number of civic improvements, the latest of which is the Soofa Sign – a companion to the Visionect-powered wayfinding sign unveiled on City Hall Plaza back in July.
The Soofa Sign is designed to encourage Boston’s visitors and residents to engage with each other and the city. It’s a plug and play solution, the Soofa Sign can be placed anywhere in the sun. All it takes to install this smart urban display are four bolts fixing the sign in place – no access to the power grid or other complex machinery is necessary.
Developed by Soofa, a spin-off of the MIT Media Lab (who we have covered before here), and running on Visionect technology, the Soofa Sign runs on solar-powered electronic paper and provides real-time information on local events and City services at Boston’s pedestrian epicenter, Samuel Adams Park, located outside of Faneuil Hall.
The Soofa Sign is made up of a color 32-inch E Ink electronic paper display and is powered by Visionect’s signage technology, which allows the e-paper screen to be extremely energy efficient and seamlessly update the sign with real-time content.
The result is an extremely durable, low power outdoor sign that is runs on a solar cell, has great visibility in adverse light conditions and connects via 3G to upload content, all without any light pollution whatsoever.
Focused toward delivering community content, Soofa Sign displays will show a mix of municipal information, transit updates, advertising for businesses operating within a general proximity of the installed sign and citizens’ input. “Innovation is fast to market when you have the right partners in place who work side by side. With Visionect we can develop a robust and sustainable solution with limitless possibilities on applications.” Sandra Richter, CEO of Soofa explains about the partnership and its potential.
Following the launch in Boston, we are told that the Soofa Sign will soon be in Cambridge, MA and select cities across the United States.
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