Several cities nationwide are testing solar-powered products that provide free Wi-Fi and smartphone charging stations while simultaneously gathering pedestrian activity and traffic pattern data.
In Oak Park, IL, the first Soofa Core unit was installed in a city park last August, closely followed by units in three other urban parks. The device, located adjacent to existing seating, offers visitors a free place to charge mobile devices. It also tracks how many people visit the parks by tracking the number of Wi-Fi enabled devices in the area.
“Technology and smartphones have become part of our day-to-day lives,” Bobbi Nance, senior manager of strategy and innovation for the Park District, told theChicago Tribune. “With this new equipment, it only takes four bolts in the ground and a little sunshine to provide a new service to park users as well as new data to help the park district better serve the community.”
The Park District imports raw data into its agency-wide dashboard, and is then able to analyze correlations such as how temperature and events impact park use. The District can also evaluate the success of different marketing strategies with information on how many people came out based on a particular marketing initiative.
To learn more about soofa visit www.soofa.co.
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