Skip to Navigation
University of Pittsburgh
Print This Page Print this pages

January 21, 2010

Digital info system in the works for Oakland

Getting around and getting informed in Oakland soon may become easier. A plan is in the works to use new interactive kiosks and smart-phone technology designed by local university innovators in key locations. The envisioned digital information system would be the first of its kind in the United States, according to leaders of the Innovation Oakland project.

Pitt’s John Wilds, center, joins in a mapping exercise as part of a public input session for a new digital information system in Oakland.

Pitt’s John Wilds, center, joins in a mapping exercise as part of a public input session for a new digital information system in Oakland.

“What’s working? What’s not working? What would you like to see?” project managers asked Oakland residents, students, business people and employees in a Jan. 14 public session in Alumni Hall. Input from the Oakland community also has been garnered via online surveys and focus groups as part of the initial phase in the four-phase digital wayfinding project.

Pitt, UPMC, Carnegie Mellon University, Carlow University and the Oakland Task Force are partnering in the Innovation Oakland project, which is coordinated by the Oakland Business Improvement District (OBID).

The seeds for the project were planted more than a year ago as OBID board members took up the challenge of how to get information into the hands of the 100,000 people who come into Oakland each day to work, shop, go to school, receive medical care or visit museums and other cultural centers.

The CMU School of Architecture’s Remaking Cities Institute will develop the interactive system that project leaders envision will include new signs, interactive digital kiosks and information accessible through handheld devices.

In addition to directions, the system could provide information on parking spaces, public transit, local events and neighborhood businesses.

Although there are some digital information systems in Spain, Finland and Korea, no comprehensive system exists in the United States, said OBID executive director Georgia Petropoulos Muir.

While the system would be a first in this country, “The innovative part is we’re using the talent we have here,” Muir said.

In May, a prototype kiosk designed at CMU is expected to be unveiled, with a goal of installing the system a year from now.

There’s still time for anyone who’d like to offer feedback on getting around in Oakland. The deadline is Friday, Jan. 29 to complete a nine-question Innovation Oakland survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/InnovationOakland.

Additional information on Innovation Oakland is available at www.cmu.edu/rci or through OBID, www.onlyinoakland.org.

—Kimberly K. Barlow


Leave a Reply