IKE Smart City: Empowering cities and their residents with actionable air quality data

In the digital age, how can cities better connect with people? This question drove the development of IKE–the Interactive Kiosk Experience. In 2015, IKE Smart City was formed by the team behind Orange Barrel Media, a 20-year-old national out-of-home media company. IKE kiosk networks currently live in 17 US cities, nationwide, where they provide valuable, interactive information to cities, their residents, and visitors. They are delivered at no cost to city partners and can even generate a new stream of revenue for cities.

The kiosks are placed in the public right-of-way to empower citizens with information, aiding in navigation, the use of public transportation, exploration of attractions, and access to various services. Each kiosk serves as a free Wi-Fi hotspot and is location-aware, displaying specific data about the surrounding area for a hyper-local experience.

With a simple touch of IKE's screens, people can discover nearby restaurants, local businesses, and activities through geolocated listings that are updated in real time and include integrated wayfinding. Pedestrians can also use IKE to view job boards and access public services such as social services, assistance programs, and city surveys.

IKE Smart City, committed to improving and expanding the information available through the kiosks, reached out to Google Maps Platform to add air quality information to the public interface for residents and visitors. They also wanted to provide their partners and stakeholders with this environmental data to serve as a tool for city initiatives.

"The Maps JavaScript API and Places API were already an integral part of our interactive kiosks due to their data quality and ease of use," explains Graham Conzett, Director of Technology, Orange Barrel Media. "So when air pollution became something that cities wanted to actively monitor, we sought reliable, accurate, high-fidelity air quality data to help them, especially in dense urban areas, and the Air Quality API provided the answer."

Accessing high-fidelity air quality data for specific locations

IKE Smart City initially leveraged existing pedestrian counting sensors to monitor air quality, but soon realized that it was challenging to get consistently accurate data due to surrounding factors. Upon review, they found that the air quality readings from their sensors were vulnerable to changing conditions in denser urban areas. For example, if a delivery truck happened to be parked right next to the kiosk, the nearby fumes would interfere with the air quality measurements for the overall area.

The Air Quality API, which covers more than 100 countries with a resolution of 500 x 500 meters, provided IKE with endpoints to query current conditions across the cities where its kiosks are located. "When we realized that our sensors wouldn't provide the data quality we needed, we searched for external solutions and found that the accuracy and quality provided by the Air Quality API are exactly what we were looking for," Conzett explains.

Within just a couple of two-week sprints, IKE Smart City implemented the Air Quality API and translated some of its data into user-friendly formats for the kiosks' interface. "The back-end, technical implementation was as easy as you can get," Conzett recalls.

Helping to inform decisions that impact our everyday lives

IKE can be customized to meet the unique needs of city partners and the residents and visitors they serve. The Air Quality API fuels this ability when it comes to environmental data. When municipalities want access to air quality data using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit or want to quantify specific pollutants, Conzett's team is able to use the API to match their needs.

Their team of software engineers were also able to configure a custom content management system that allows city partners to easily access a number of analytical dashboards showing air quality trends over time and measuring pollutants. Cities can cross-reference this information with other kiosk data, such as pedestrian counts over the same period, to help inform decisions that impact the everyday lives of local citizens. For instance, they can focus on minimizing air pollution where there is heavy foot traffic or create more desirable walking and cycling paths along routes with better air quality conditions.

"City partners love that IKE can support their initiatives with air quality data. The Air Quality API that feeds into our content management system makes it easy for us to give them high-quality metrics in formats that best serve their needs," says Conzett.

Enhancing public safety with visible alerts

IKE Smart City is constantly investing in platform innovations that provide value for city residents. By providing alerts on the kiosks when air quality conditions are poor, they empower people to make informed decisions to reduce their exposure to air pollution. Looking ahead, they aim to continue evolving the kiosks into a more comprehensive resource, like providing tailored recommendations based on demographic and environmental data, such as air quality. They have also considered adding information from Google Maps Platform's Pollen API to help people affected by seasonal allergies.

In the meantime, the company has already noticed that people are interacting with the kiosks when an air quality alert or warning is displayed-indicating interest in this type of information. Therefore, to add even more value for residents and visitors, they are looking into incorporating the Air Quality API's actionable tips data to provide safety recommendations to specific groups like children, older adults, and athletes when they click to learn more.

Making way for new revenue opportunities

IKE Smart City is able to provide services to city partners free of cost thanks to a self-sustaining business model. When kiosks are in passive mode, they run ads which generate revenue shared with cities to invest in placemaking initiatives, which also allows IKE Smart City to invest in developing more services for passersby. "One of the reasons we're able to provide this revenue-share model is because Orange Barrel Media started as an advertising company. So we already had experience selling ads and relationships with advertisement agency partners," explains Conzett.

Moving forward, integrating current environmental data like air quality and pollen levels can help advertisers optimize ad spend and tailor messaging. For example, pharmaceutical companies could increase ad spend when pollution or pollen levels are high and most likely to trigger symptoms, while displaying an alert with current conditions on the ad. "This could open up new opportunities for us," Conzett explains.

Clearly, there's a demand for useful information, and IKE Smart City is up for the challenge of making it available to all. Conzett explains, "As Google Maps Platform releases more functionalities, we will continually develop new ways to create value for cities, communities, and advertisers."