“Smart” bench gathers data to help urban planners meet public’s needs

By Jill Odom

It seems that there is a “smart” version of every basic object nowadays, but an intriguing one for landscape designers who design public spaces is the smart bench.

One example of these smart benches can be found in Anita Stroud Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bench attracts many visitors thanks to a pair of USB ports connected to a solar-powered console, suddenly becoming a godsend for those who have a dead or dying phone.

But this feature isn’t really what makes this bench smart. Built in beneath the solar panel is a Wi-Fi enabled sensor that is able to register anyone who walks within 150 feet of the bench with a Wi-Fi enabled mobile device as a unique visitor to the park.

The data it collects is not the individual’s personal information, but their ID associated with the Wi-Fi enabled device, so that if they visit the park again it will know that they are not a new visitor.

“The idea that we can learn about how many people are using the space, when they are there, and how long they are there without having to literally send someone out there to count people is very valuable,” Monica Carney Holmes, the planning coordinator for Charlotte’s urban design office, told Landscape Architecture Magazine.

Read full article and learn more about Data Collection and Privacy here.

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